1 


svv 


S\VI 


In 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


THE  PETER  AND  ROSELL  HARVEY 
MEMORIAL  FUND 


1 


PICTURESQUE  JOURNEYS 
IN  AMERICA 


OF 


THE  JUNIOR  UNITED  TOURIST  CLUB. 


EDITED    BY    THE 

REV.    EDWARD   T.   BROMFIELD. 


PROFUSEL  Y  ILL  USTRA TED. 


NEW     YORK: 

R.    WORTHINGTON,    770    BROADWAY. 
1883. 


COPYRIGHT, 

1882, 
BY   R.   WORTHINGTON. 


PREFACE. 


HILE  the  following  papers  may  be  said,  in  a  certain  sense,  to  tell 
their  own  story,  it  nevertheless  seems  proper  to  make  one  or  two 
preliminary  statements  with  respect  to  the  general  plan  and  pur- 
port of  this  book. 

The  design  has  been,  under  cover  of  an  imaginary  class  or 
circle  of  young  people,  led  by  a  trusted  companion  or  tutor,  to 
introduce  the  reader  to  some  of  the  most  picturesque  portions  of  our  country,  and 
to  bring  together  such  facts  and  sentiments  from  the  general  field  of  observation 
and  reading  as  naturally  belong  to  the  places  illustrated. 

With  the  above  purpose  in  his  mind,  the  editor  frankly  admits  that,  from  the 
first,  he  felt  his  own  inefficiency,  and  that  he  feels  it  more  keenly  even  now  that  the 
work,  such  as  it  is,  is  done.  Its  due  performance,  indeed,  would  seem  to  involve 
an  extent  and  range  of  information  and  attainment  far  greater  than  that  to  which 
even  his  most  appreciative  friends  could  lay  claim  on  his  behalf,  together  with  an 
almost  superhuman  faculty  of  condensation,  owing  to  the  strictly  limited  dimensions 
predetermined  for  the  book.  The  persuasive  influence  of  the  publisher  was, 
however,  in  a  moment  of  weakness,  allowed  to  prevail,  and,  having  once  undertaken 
the  duty,  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  persevere  to  the  end. 

In  respect  to  two  of  the  literary  features  of  this  work  (the  illustrations  speaking 
for  themselves),  the  editor  is  perhaps  justified  in  claiming  some  merit.  He  has 
taken  conscientious  pains  to  verify  facts  and  dates,  so  that  the  book  may  be  accepted 
as  both  fair  and  accurate,  as  far  as  it  goes  ;  and  he  has  sought  to  give  it  a  healthful, 
moral,  and  intellectual  stamp. 

He  may  claim,  also,  as  some  justification  for  attempting  this  task,  his  own 
warm  sympathies  with  young  people.  As  the  father  of  a  large  family,  he  feels, 
more  than  he  can  express,  the  importance  of  the  season  of  youth,  and  its  need  of 


iv  Preface. 

loving  and  timely  counsel  from  the  lips  of  experience,  with  just  such  helps  as  this 
and  other  instructive  and  interesting  publications  are  designed  to  give.  And  how 
often  does  it  not  happen,  in  every  intelligent  home  circle,  that  some  beautiful  or 
striking  picture  furnishes  the  text  for  an  animated  conversation,  in  which  the 
appetite  for  knowledge  is  quickened,  and  opportunity  given  to  correct  error,  and  to 
inculcate  sound  and  lofty  sentiments  !  It  is  his  earnest  hope  that  this  book  may 
prove  serviceable  in  these  important  particulars,  and  that,  while  offering  some 
suggestions  of  amusement  for  winter  evenings,  it  may  awaken  in  the  minds  of  many  a 
love  for  that  kind  of  reading  which  not  only  excites  and  stimulates,  but  strengthens 
and  enriches  the  faculties  of  the  mind. 
NEW  YORK,  August,  1882. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.— INTRODUCTORY.  .....  i 

CHAPTER  II.— THE  YOSEMITE  VALLEY. 

Mountain  Ride  from  Maclera — Mariposa  Trees  and  Redwoods — Peak  of  Inspiration — Bridal  Falls-— Yosemite 

Falls — Vernal  Falls— Mirror  Lake— Whittier's  "  Lake  Side." 4 

CHAPTER  III.— THE  YOSEMITE. 

Sir  W.  Scott  and   Bret  Harte— Geological   Features — Cathedral   and  Sentinel    Rocks — North  and    South 

Domes — Boulders — Discovery  of  the  Yosemite — Indians — Duke  of  Sutherland 17 

CHAPTER  IV. — CALIFORNIA  AND  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

Geographical — Early  Lawlessness — 1849  and  1875— City  Hall  and  Chinese  Quarter — Baron  Hubner's 
Adventure — Seal  Rocks — Pacific  at  Santa  Clara — Trip  to  Silver  Mine — Railroad  and  Canon  Scenery 
— Gold  Mining — Glacier  Moraines 26 

CHAPTER  V. — THE  GREAT  AMERICAN  BASIN  AND  UTAH. 

Position  and  Character  of  the  Basin — Great  Desert — Corrina — Rocky  Mountain  Slopes — Devil's  Slide — 
Moore's  Lake — Colburn's  Butte — Titanic  Nomenclature — Springville  Canon  smd  the  Wahsatch  Range 
— Humboldt 43 

CHAPTER  VI. — SALT  LAKE  CITY  AND  THE  MORMONS. 

Approach  from  Ogden — Early  Mormon  History — Views  of  Salt  Lake  City — Mormon  Endurance — Obnoxious 
Tenets — Polygamy  and  Despotism — Brigham  Young — Emigrants  on  their  Way — Dreams  ol  Emi- 
grants— Work  and  Faith — Mormon  Church  in  Earnest — Questions  for  Christian  Churches — Camp 
Douglass  and  the  Gentiles 52 

CHAPTER  VII. — ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  SCENERY — SOUTH. 

Daring  Engineering  Feats — Aspects  of  Colorado — The  Park  System — Climate — Canons — Central  City  and 

Leadville — Gray's  Peak — Garden  of  the  Gods — Manitou — Boulder  City — An  Emigrant  Train 66 

CHAPTER  VIII. — ROCKY  MOUNTAINS  AND  THE  YELLOWSTONE  PARK. 

An  Extended  Pic-nic — Access  to  the  Park — The  Lake — Adventure  with  Indians — Lower  and  Upper  Falls — 
Grand  Canon — Volcanic  and  Glacial  Action — Rock  Coloring — Icebergs  and  Submergence — Diluvium 
— Drifts  and  Boulders 77 

CHAPTER  IX. — ROCKY  MOUNTAINS,  YELLOWSTONE  PARK,  ETC. 

Tower  Creek  Falls  and  Column  Mountains — Hot  Springs  and  Geysers — Chemical  Action  of  Water  and 
Atmosphere  on  Rocks — Meaning  of  Geyser — Explanation  of  Phenomena —Astounding  Effects — Pris- 
matic Coloring  of  Water — Earthquakes— Forces  of  Nature — Human  Strength  and  Weakness — Falls 
of  Snake  River 84 

CHAPTER  X.— THE  PLAINS  AND  PRAIRIES. 

Extent  and  Elevation  of  Prairies — Why  No  Trees — Different  Theories — Letter  from  Settler  in  Nebraska — 
Prairie  Fires — The  Buffalo — Peaceful  Indians— Difference  between  Plain  and  Prairie — Military 
Reminiscences — A  Pow-wow — Indian  with  Scalp — Sheridan — The  Indian  Problem — Wapiti 95 

v 


vi  Contents. 


CHAPTER  XI. — MOUNTAIN  SCENERY  IN  PENNSYLVANIA.  1AGE- 

Meaning  of  "  Alleghany  " — The  Appalachians — Geological  Features — Juniata  and  Susquehanna — Railway 
Cut — Sinking  Spring — River  of  Yesterday — Kettle  Run — Horse  Shoe  Bend — The  Portage  Rail- 
roads— Germans  and  Dutch — William  Penn 108 

CHAPTER  XII. — THE  SUSQUEHANNA  AND  DELAWARE  RIVERS. 

"  Crooked  River  " — Lake  Otsego,  and  Cooper — Uses  and  Abuses  of  Novels — Vale  of  Wyoming — Rise  of 
the  Delaware — Water  Gap — The  Missing  Lake — Lovers'  Leap — Historic  Retrospect — Washington 
and  Trenton , 121 

CHAPTER  XIIL— NIAGARA  FALLS. 

General  View — Fascination  and  Spell — Music  of  Niagara — Geological  Changes — Cave  of  the  Winds  and 
Vertical  Stairs — The  American  Fall — Horse-Shoe  Falls — Proprietary  Rights — Suspension  Bridge — 
The  Whirlpool— Historical  Attractions — War  of  1812 — "  Disastrous  Nonsense" — Peace  of  1814 128 

CHAPTER  XIV.— LAKE  SUPERIOR. 

Extent  and  Appearance — The  Pictured  Rocks — Christian  Nomenclature — Cascade  and  Great  Cave — "  Song  • 

of  Hiawatha  " — Idea  and  Merits  of  the  Poem — Whittier's  Eagle's  Quill 139 

CHAPTER  XV. — BOSTON  AND  THE  WHITE  MOUNTAINS. 

Boston  irom  Bunker  Hill — June  I7th,  1775 — A  Stupid  King  and  Haughty  Counsellors — Brother  against 
Brother — The  Boston  Tea  Party — Taxation  and  Representation — Beginnings  of  the  Dispute — "The 
Hub  " — Fighting  for  a  Principle — White  Mountain  Region — Mt.  Washington — Silver  Cascade — 
Dangers  of  Mountain  Travel — Crawford's  Notch 146 

CHAPTER  XVI.— THE  WHITE  MOUNTAINS— CONTINUED. 

The  Atlantic  System — Extent  and  Nomenclature — Franconia  Mountains — Eagle  Cliff — Canon  Mountains — . 

Hawthorne — "  The  Great  Stone  Face  " — Whittier's  "  Franconia." 157 

CHAPTER  XVII. — OTHER  PICTURESQUE  VIEWS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND. 

Connecticut  and  the  Plymouth  Company — View  near  Granby — Why  Connecticut  is  a  small  State — Mt. 
Ascutney,  Mass. — The  Missisquoi,  Vt. — St.  Albans — Raid  and  Rendezvous — Negro  Head,  Newport — 
Rhode  Island  and  Roger  Williams 1 62 

CHAPTER  XVIII.— LAKE  GEORGE. 

Traveling  by  Imagination — The  Ambuscade — Fourteen-Mile  Island — General  Montcalm  and  Fort  William 
Henry — Sabbath  Day  Point — Abercrombie — Cat  Mountain — Robert  Rogers — War  and  Peace — 
Summer  Day  Glory — Whittier's  "  Summer  by  the  Lakeside." 171 

CHAPTER  XIX.— THE  ADIRONDACK. 

Character  of  the  Adirondack  Region — Preston  Ponds — Nature  and  Sadness — Lake  St.  Regis — Deer  in  the 
Adirondacks — The  Ausable — Mr.  Murray,  and  Trout  Fishing — Lake  Henderson — Upper  Ausable 
Lake 1 8 1 

CHAPTER  XX. — THE  HUDSON  RIVER  AND  THE  CATSKI-LLS. 

The  Palisades,  their  Geology  and  their  Uses — Notes  on  Major  Andre",  General  Arnold,  Washington  Irving, 
and  Carlyle — West  Point,  Tarrytown,  etc. ,  etc. — The  Catskill  Region — Sunset  Rocks — Artist's 
Grotto — Rip  Van  Winkle — General  Reflections — Conclusion 191 


PICTURESQUE  TOURS  IN  AMERICA 


INTRODUCTORY. 

HE  JUNIOR  UNITED  TOURIST  CLUB  is  an  organization  consisting  of 
ten  or  twelve  young  people  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and 
twenty,  who  are  the  regular  members  of  the  club,  and  a 
few  older  persons,  chiefly  parents  of  the  members,  who  are 
termed  "honorary  members."  It  is  not  necessary  for  the  pur- 
poses of  this  book  to  state  precisely  the  "  whereabouts  "  of  this 
club.  It  may  be  assumed  to  be  in  some  one  of  at  least  a  hundred  cities  to 
be  found  on  any  good  map  of  the  United  States.  Every  member  of  this 
club  either  has  taken,  or  is  presumed  to  have  taken,  one  of  the  picturesque 
tours  described  in  these  pages.  Ten  very  delightful  evenings  are  supposed  to 
'have  been  spent  in  going  over  these  tours,  at  the  rate  of  one  tour  to  an 
evening,  under  the  leadership  of  one  particular  member  who  either  by  personal 
travel  or  by  special  reading  is  best  qualified  to  take  this  responsible  post.  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  member  who  leads  the  party  to  furnish  sketches  or  engravings 
of  the  scene  he  proposes  to  describe,  and  every  member  contributes  to  the  best 
of  his  ability  to  the  common  fund  of  fact,  incident,  and  adventure  thus  gathered 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


together.  As  some  of  the  tours  embrace  journeys  of  thousands  of  miles,  and  the 
time  is  strictly  limited  to  an  hour  and  a  half  each  evening,  the  reader  will  at  once 
see  that  some  very  rapid  traveling  has  been  accomplished.  He  will  also  be 
prepared  to  learn  (as  the  result  of  experience)  that  the  members  never  seem  to 
suffer  from  undue  fatigue  in  consequence  of  their  long  journeys. 

The  reader  is  invited  to  consider  himself,  without  further  introduction,  a 
corresponding  member  of  this  club,  and  to  imagine  that  he  hears  the  conversa- 
tions repeated  in  the  following  pages. 


The  Junior  United  Tourist  Club  held  its  first  meeting  for  the  season,  1881-2, 
at  the  house  of  Mr.  Merriman.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  host, 
and  elected  Gilbert  Warlike  chairman,  pro  tern.,  and  Grace  Merriman,  secretary. 

The  roll  was  called,  and  the  following  members  answered  to  their  names,— 
Albert  Victor,  Bertram  Harvey,  Clara  Harvey,  Cyril  Merriman,  Grace  Merriman, 
John  Smith,  Gilbert  Warlike,  Kate  Goldust,  Laura  Smith,  Lilian  Wiseman  ;  also 
the  following  honorary  members, — Professor  Workman,  Doctor  Paulus,  Mr.  S. 
Harvey,  Mr.  Goldust,  Mrs.  Goldust,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  Merriman,  Aunt  Harriet 
Victor,  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Warlike. 

Resolved ':  That  Professor  Workman  be  President  of  the  J.  U.  T.  C.  Appoint- 
ment accepted,  and  President  formally  inducted  into  the  Chair. 

Resolved :  That  the  meetings  of  the  J.  U.  T.  C.  be  held  weekly  in  rotation 
at  the  houses  of  the  honorary  members  ;  that  each  meeting  shall  consist  of  (i)  a 
short  business  session,  (2)  a  conversational  tour,  (3)  refreshments,  etc. 

Resolved:  That  the  Conversational  Tour  be  strictly  limited  to  one  hour 
and  a  half  in  duration. 

Resolved :  That  the  Tour  for  this  evening  be  California  and  the  Yosemite 
Valley,  under  the  leadership  of  Miss  Grace  Merriman. 

Resolved :  That  the  Tour  for  the  next  meeting  be  the  Great  American  Basin 
and  Utah. 

The  President  read  the  order  of  the  evening  for  a  Conversational  Tour  ia 
California  and  the  Yosemite  Valley,  and  called  upon  Grace  Merriman. 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE    YOSEMITE    VALLEY. 

RACE  (reading  from  a  MS.)  : — When  papa  told  us  at  home  that 
he  was  about  to  take  mamma,  Cyril,  and  me,  for  a  holiday  to  the 
Pacific  coast,  I  had  only  the  poorest  kind  of  an  idea,  in  a  general 
way,  of  the  places  we  were  likely  to  visit.  Of  course  I  was 
delighted,  and  expected  to  have  no  end  of  fun  and  excitement; 
but  I  was  shamefully  ignorant  about  the  Pacific  coast,  except 
from  what  I  had  learned  in  the  school  geographies,  and  from  reading  some 
of  Bret  Harte's  sketches.  I  must  not,  I  suppose,  go  into  any  particulars  of 
our  journey  to  San  Francisco,  but  proceed  according  to  the  programme,  by 
giving  you  some  particulars  of  our  trip  from  that  city  to  the  Yosemite  Valley, 
an  ever-to-be-remembered  event  or  episode  in  my  experience,  and  one  which  some- 
times seems  .as  though  it  must  have  been  a  dream,  so  new  and  strange  was  every- 
thing. I  only  wish  I  could  even  faintly  convey  to  the  club  the  impressions  I 
received.  But  I  will  do  my  best,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  club,  and  I  am 
thankful  I  have  papa  and  mamma,  to  say  nothing  of  Cyril,  to  help  me  through. 
CYRIL  :  I  was  very  observant,  I  assure  you. 

GRACE  :  We  went  by  rail  to  a  little  town  called  Madera,  and  took  what  they 
call  the  stage  to  the  Yosemite.  There  were  eight  of  us  inside,  and  four  outside, 
drawn  by  four  horses  ;  and  I  shall  say  nothing  more  about  this  part  of  the  journey 
than  that  it  was,  for  more  than  half  the  distance  at  least,  a  succession  of  jolts  and 
thumps  up  the  mountains.  Mamma  got  very  nervous  sometimes,  and  said  that  if 
this  were  sight  seeing  she  had  rather  stay  at  home.  Papa  and  Cyril  were  outside, 
and  I  expected  every  minute  or  two  to  see  one  or  both  of  them  plump  off.  We 
had  about  twelve  hours  of  this,  and  were  right  glad  at  last  to  be  summoned  to 
dismount  at  Mr.  Clark's  ranch,  part  farm  and  part  hotel,  where  we  found  rest  and 
refreshment,  and  spent  the  night. 


BIG  TREES   OF   MARIPOSA. 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


The  next  day  we  devoted  to  the  big  trees  of  Mariposa,  about  sixteen  miles 
south  of  the  Yosemite.  I  am  fortunate  enough  to  have  a  very  good  drawing  of 
the  lower  part  of  a  group  of  these  trees,  and  also  one  of  a  specimen  of  the  red- 
wood tree,  belonging  to  the  same  family,  but  not  so  gigantic  in  its  proportions. 

The  Mariposa  grove  is  only  three  or  four  miles  from  Clark's  ranch,  and  we  rode 
there  on  mustangs  or  ponies.  But  what  with  looking  at  the  trees,  gathering  speci- 
mens of  the  flowering  shrubs,  eating  luncheon,  and,  if  I  must  say  so,  a  little  mild 
flirtation  on  the  part  of  some  of  our  company — (here  some  side  glances  were 
directed  toward  Cyril) — the  best  part  of  a  long  day  wore  away  before  we  alighted 
on  the  hospitable  piazza  of  the  ranch  on  our  return.  And  now  I  must  say  a  word 
or  two  about  these  same  big  trees,  at  the  risk  of  telling  you  what  you  all  very  well 
know.  Mariposa  is  the  name  of  the  county  in  California — some  Indian  name,  I 
suppose — in  which  we  are  now  traveling.  A  few  years  ago,— I  do  not  know  exactly 
what  year,  but  probably  about  1850, — when  miners  were  prospecting  everywhere 
along  the  Pacific  coast  for  gold  and  other  precious  minerals,  some  of  them 
discovered  this  and  a  few  other  groves  of  these  big  trees.  A  great  stir  was  made 
about  them  at  once,  as  they  are  of  an  immense  size — trunks  from  thirty  to 
thirty-six  feet  in  diameter  ;  a  straight  shaft,  almost  without  leaf  or  branch,  two 
hundred  feet  high,  and  then  one  or  two  hundred  feet  more  on  the  top  of  that, 
throwing  out  enormous  branches.  Somehow  or  another  the  first  imperfect 
specimens  got  into  the  hands  of  English  botanists,  and  they  christened  the  genus 
Wellingtonia,  after  their  famous  Duke  ;  but  our  botanists  found  out  that  these  big 
trees  were  not  a  family  all  by  themselves,  but  had  some  respectable  cousins  called 
Redwood,  a  very  familiar  cone-bearing  tree  in  California  and  other  places  on  the 
Pacific  coast.  The  redwoods  cover  an  immense  territory,  and  are  used  for  all 
manner  of  purposes,  and  are  very  large  trees  too  (though  not  so  large  as  the  big 
trees),  forming  dense  forests.  The  botanical  name  of  the  redwood  is  Sequoia 
sempervirens,  named  in  honor  of  an  Indian  chief;  and  so  the  American  botanists 
called  the  big  trees  of  Mariposa  Sequoia  gigantea,  which  is  much  more  appropriate 
I  think,  than  Wellingtonia,  besides  being  correct. 

GILBERT  :  What  had  the  Duke  of  Wellington  to  do  with  these  big  trees,  that 
Americans  should  be  asked  to  call  them  after  him  ?  I  hope  the  English  botanists 
will  have  the  good  sense  to  drop  their  absurd  title.  The  Indian  name  is  far  better. 


The   Yosemite   Valley. 


GRACE  :  There  are  several  groves  of  these  trees  on  the  terraces  of  the  Sierra 
mountains,  but  nowhere  else  in  the  world,  so  far  as  is  yet  known.  I  think  they  are 
unquestionably  the  largest 
trees  in  the  world, 
believed  that  they 


It  is 
are  al- 
most as  old  as  the  Christian 
era,  judging  from  the  rings 
of  the  trunks. 

CLARA  :  Are  there  any 
young  Sequoia  growing  up, 
or  is  the  race  dying  out  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  A  very 
natural  question,    and    one 
which    can    be    answered 
satisfactorily.      The   race, 
happily,  is  notifying  out,  as 
there    are   trees  in    these 
groves  of  all  sizes,  from  the 
yearlings  just  springing  up 
from  the  seeds  to  the  hoary 
monsters    which     evidently 
have  been  in  existence  cen- 
turies before  the  Christian 
era.      Unless  destroyed  by 
forest  fires  the  race,  though 
not    numerous,    will    prob- 
ably continue  the  pride  and 
wonder  of  our  western  coast 
as  long  as  the  world  lasts, 
or  at  least  until  far  greater 
changes  are  wrought  upon 
the   surface   of    our    planet 
than  we  can  venture  to  pre- 


REDWOOD   TREE. 


8 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


diet.  I  should  say  that  the  Eucalyptus  tree  of  Australia,  belonging  to  an  entirely 
different  family,  is  almost  as  large  in  its  native  forests  as  our  Sequoia.  By  the 
way,  Miss  Clara,  did  you  go  into  any  of  the  hollow  trees.? 

CLARA  :  Oh,  of  course.     I  went  into  the  Pioneer's  cabin,  a  hollow  in  the  trunk 
of  a  tree  capable  of  holding  twelve  persons  ;  and  papa  rode  right  through  one  of 


THE   PEAK   OF   INSPIRATION. 


the  long  trunks  on  his  mustang,  without  lowering  his  head  the  least  bit.  I  could 
tell  you  a  great  deal  more  about  these  big  trees,  but  if  we  are  to  see  the  Yosemite 
to-night,  we  must  make  haste.  And  I  have  some  very  fine  pictures  here  of  some  of 
the  objects  of  interest. 


The   Yo seinite  Valley. 


The  valley  is,  I  think,  about  twenty-four  miles  from  Clark's  ranch.  We  go 
on  mustangs  of  course.  You  are  to  suppose  that  it  is  a  very  hot  day  in  June,  and 
that  there  are  plenty  of  flies.  Up,  up,  up  we  go,  ascending  the  western  slopes  of 
the  Sierras,  mostly  through  thick  forests  of  redwood,  cedar,  and  pine,  till  we  come 
to  a  halting  place,  where  we  have  lunch,  and  then  on  again,  northward  of  course, 


YOSEMITE   VALLEY. 


till  we  reach  the  verge  of  a  mighty  precipice,  called  the  Peak  of  Inspiration,  when 
the  valley  of  the  Yosemite  bursts  with  all  its  glory  upon  us.  Baron  Hiibner  thus 
describes  this  view:  "  In  front  of  us,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Yosemite,  .one  single 
immense  block  of  square  granite  with  a  flattened  summit  and  perpendicular  flanks, 


10 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


rises   out  of  the  valley  beneath.     The   Mexicans  gave  it  the  name  El  Capitan. 
(It  is  3,300  feet  from  the  valley  bottom,  and  almost  perpendicular.)     Further  on, 


THE   BRIDAL   FALL. 


towards  the   north-east,  on  both  sides  of  the  abyss,  rise  smooth,  vertical  walls  of 
rock,  diversified  here  and  there  by  peaks  and  domes,  with  narrow  aerial  terraces. 


YOSEMITE    FALLS. 


12 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


out  of  which  spring  gigantic  firs.     The  horizon  is  bounded  by  a  complete  wall  of 
granite,  higher  than  the  mountains  which  surround  the  valley,  and  of  which  the  top 

appears  perfectly  straight. 
11  This  is  the  highest 
ridge  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada." 

I  quote  this  because  it 
corresponds  exactly  with 
the  first  impression  made 
upon  me  as  I  looked  across 
the  valley  from  the  peak. 
I  do  not  think  that  either 
of  the  views  I  have  here 
quite  represents  this  effect, 
though  they  are  admirable 
pictures.  As  we  wind  down 
from  the  peak  into  the 
valley,  we  get  i  n  n  u  m  era- 
ble  views,  each  different 
from  the  rest,  and  bring- 
ing new  features  of  this 
wonderful  scene  before 
us.  One  of  the  first  cas- 


cades we  see  is  the  Bridal 
Fall,  which  makes  only 
two  springs  in  a  total  leap 
of  over  900  feet  from  the 
west  side  of  the  Cathe- 
dral Rock.  We  had  the 
good  fortune  to  see  this 
fall  at  its  best,  as  there 
had  been  very  heavy 


VERNAL  FALL. 


.rains  during  the  spring,  and  the  flow  of  water  was  abundant. 


THE   YOSEMITE   FALLS. 


14  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

LAURA  :  Did  you  notice  the  wave  or  bend  in  the  column  of  water,  said  to  be 
due  to  the  current  of  wind  striking  it  in  its  long  descent  ? 

GRACE  :  I  did  not  notice  that,  but  I  understand  that  it  is  quite  apparent  when 
the  body  of  water  is  not  too  heavy.  Here  is  a  view  of  the  Yosemite  Falls,  formed 
by  the  leap  of  the  Yosemite  Creek  of  the  river  Merced,  over  a  cliff  2,600  feet  high. 

JOHN  :  About  half  a  mile. 

GRACE  :  There  are  three  leaps,  of  which  the  highest  is  1,600  feet.  It  is 
estimated  that  when  the  river  is  full,  in  the  spring,  about  a  million  and  a  half 
of  cubic  feet  of  water  pass  over  this  fall  every  hour.  This  is  perhaps  the  highest 
fall  in  the  world.  Here  is  a  view  of  the  Vernal  Fall,  very  beautiful,  though  not  so 
high  as  some  of  the  others,  being  only  from  350  to  400  feet.  It  falls  over  a 
perpendicular  rock  ;  but  steps  are  cut  from  the  valley,  and  a  brave  and  cool  person 
can  climb  to  the  top  if  he  thinks  proper.  At  the  top  there  is  a  breastwork  of 
rock,  so  that  one  can  enjoy  the  view  without  danger  when  once  one  is  there. 
Papa  and  Cyril  were  both  venturesome  enough  to  undertake  this  trip.  In  this 
picture  we  see  the  breastwork  to  the  right. 

I  am  not  keeping  exactly  to  the  order  in  which  the  visitor  approaches  these 
several  sights,  but  I  find  it  easier  to  speak  of  them  separately.  I  think  that  one 
of  the  loveliest  features  of  the  Yosemite  Valley  is  the  Mirror  Lake,  embosomed 
among  the  mountains,  pinnacles,  and  domes,  and  reflecting  all  these  objects,  down 
to  the  minutest  lichen  on  the  rocks,  on  its  perfectly  smooth  surface.  Now  and 
then,  of  course,  a  ripple  steals  over  the  water  and  temporarily  dispels  the  lovely 
scene.  As  I  sat  by  this  lake  in  the  stillness  of  the  afternoon,  on  that  summer's 
day,  while  our  party  roamed  about  among  the  rocks,  Whittier's  poem,  "  The  Lake 
Side,"  came  into  my  mind,  and  I  found  myself  repeating : 

Tired  of  the  long  day's  blinding  heat, 

I  rest  my  languid  eye, 
Lake  of  the  hills  !  where  cool  and  sweet, 

Thy  sunset  waters  lie  ! 

£*.'*;'#* 

So  seemed  it  when  yon  hill's  red  crown, 
Of  old  the  Indian  trod, 


MIRROR  LAKE. 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


And,  through  the  sunset  air,  looked  down 

Upon  the  Smile  of  God.* 

***** 

Thanks,  O  our  Father !  that,  like  him, 

Thy  tender  love  I  see, 
In  radiant  hill,  and  woodland  dim, 

And  tinted  sunset  sea. 
For  not  in  mockery  dost  thou  fill 

Our  earth  with  light  and  grace, 
Thou  hid'st  no  dark  and  cruel  will 

Behind  Thy  smiling  face. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Very  aptly  quoted,  Grace.  It  is  not  often  that  we  find  bodies 
•of  water  that  are  sufficiently  smooth  and  clear  to  give  this  intensely  powerful 
reflection  of  surrounding  objects.  Some  of  the  smaller  lakes  in  Canada  have  this 
quality  in  an  extraordinary  degree.  The  water  is  so  clear,  that  you  can  look  down 
many  feet  into  the  depths  until,  as  you  sail  along,  you  seem  to  be  floating  in  air, 
and  the  islands  and  shores,  lined  as  they  are  with  trees,  are  reproduced  in  inex- 
pressible vividness  and  beauty.  But  we  are  not  yet  nearly  through  our  evening, 
and  you  have  done  almost  all  the  talking  so  far,  and  I  fear  must  be  tired. 

GRACE  :  I  have  finished  my  special  talk,  and  am  thankful  to  be  able  to  call 
upon  my  brother,  who  kindly  undertook  to  help  me.  He  will,  if  you  please,  take 
my  place  for  the  rest  of  this  excursion  to  the  Yosemite,  and  papa  will  say  some- 
thing about  California. 

*  Indian  phrase  :   "  Smile  of  the  Great  Spirit." 


CHAPTER    III. 

* 

THE    YOSEMITE. 

YRIL  :  When  my  sister  spoke  of  the  perpendicular  cliff  of  the  Vernal 
Falls,  I  had  in  my  mind  also  a  piece  of  poetry,  and,  to  vary  the  enter- 
tainment a  little,  I  will  quote  it,  and  then  invite  the  club  to  guess  the 
author's  name.  I  should  not  be  able  to  quote  it  correctly  to-night, 
had  I  not  a  few  minutes  ago  slipped  into  papa's  library  and  copied  the 
piece.  Here  it  is  : 

"  And  now,  to  issue  from  the  glen, 
No  pathway  meets  the  wanderer's  ken, 
Unless  he  climb,  with  footing  nice, 
A  far  projecting  precipice." 

DR.  HARVEY  :  If  you  had  not  said  that  you  had  copied  the  lines  I  should  have 
credited  you  with  the  impromptu  authorship  ;  but  now  that  I  think  of  it,  there  is  a 
certain  rhythm  and  ring  even  in  that  short  quotation  which  makes  me  think  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott* 

CYRIL:  You  are  right,  sir;  but  if  I  quote  the  concluding  lines  of  the  stanza, 
their  applicability  to  the  scenes  now  before  us,  notwithstanding  the  disparity  of 
circumstances,  and  surroundings,  will,  I  think,  be  admitted  by  every  one  ;  names,  of 
course,  being  different. 

"  And  mountains,  that  like  giants  stand 
To  sentinel  enchanted  land. 
High  on  the  south,  huge  Ben-venue 
Down  on  the  lake  in  masses  threw 

*  It  is  from  his  description  of  Loch  Katrine — of  course  a  much  larger  piece  of  water  than  the  Mirror  Lake  of  the 
Yosemite,  which  is  only  a  mile  in  circumference. 

2  17 


1 8  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

"  Crags,  knolls,  and  mounds  confusedly  hurled, 
The  fragments  of  an  earlier  world : 
A  'wildering  forest  feathered  o'er 
His  ruined  sides  and  summit  hoar ; 
While  on  the  north,  through  middle  air, 
Ben-an  heaved  high  his  forehead  bare." 

THE  PRESIDENT:  Miss  Grace  alluded  to  Bret  Harte  in  her  introduction.  Does 
any  member  of  the  club  recollect  his  poem  upon  the  big  trees  ? 

LAURA  :  I  have  it,  sir.  It  is  entitled  "  On  a  Cone  of  a  Big  Tree,  or  Sequoia 
gigantea"  He  says : 

"  Thy  sire  saw  the  light  that  shone 

On  Mohammed's  uplifted  crescent, 
On  many  a  royal  gilded  throne 

And  deed  forgotten  in  the  present. 

"He  saw  the  age  of  sacred  trees, 

And  Druid  groves  and  mystic  larches  ; 
And  saw  from  forest  domes  like  these 
The  builder  bring  his  Gothic  arches." 

His  concluding  thought,  as  expressed  in  the  next  quotation,  has  reference  to 
the  fact  that  this  particular  cone,  instead  of  being  the  parent  of  other  big  trees, 
is  doomed  to  live  as  a  specimen  upon  his  study  table  "  under  ink-drops  idly 
scattered  : " 

"  Not  thine  alone  the  germs  that  fail 

The  purpose  of  their  high  creation, 
If  their  poor  tenements  avail 

For  worldly  show  and  ostentation." 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  suppose  the  poet  would  suggest  to  us  that  real  practical  use 
or  progress  is  inconsistent  with  mere  "worldly  show  and  ostentation." 


The  Yosemite. 


MR.  GOLDUST:  If  a  man  or  a  woman  gives  up  days  and  evenings  to  fashion  and 
frivolity,  old  age,  if  it  comes  at  all,  will  find  him  a  mere  husk. 
The  club  cheered  this  proposition. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  think  you  may  now  proceed,  Mr.  Cyrrl,  with  your  narrative. 
CYRIL  :  You  all  know,  I  presume,  that  the  Yosemite  Valley,  and  the  Mariposa 


THE   CATHEDRAL. 


grove,  like  certain  other  attractive  parts  of  this  country,  have  been  set  aside  by 
sundry  special  Acts  of  Congress  or  State  Legislation,  as  national  parks.  The 
Yosemite  Valley  is  a  rift  or  gorge  in  the  Sierras,  possessing  singularly  grand  and 
imposing  features,  some  of  which  are  likely  to  puzzle  geologists  for  some  time  to 
come.  It  is  about  eight  miles  long,  by  about  a  mile  broad,  of  irregular  shape,  but 


20 


Picturesque   Tours  in  .America. 


hemmed  in  through  its  entire  length  by  lofty  granite  hills,  nearly  vertical.      The 
river   Merced  runs  through  the  valley,  with  tributaries  flowing  into  it  from  both 

sides,  and  constituting  the 
:  various  waterfalls,  to  some 
^  of  which  reference  has  been 
5  made.  The  floor  of  the 
valley  is  about  4,000  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
and  the  hills  tower  up  from. 
2,000  to  6,000  feet  above 
the  plain.  The  valley 
itself  is  richly  wooded,  and 
in  summer  is  carpeted  with 
grass  and  wild  flowers. 
The  latest  suggestion  as  to 
its  formation  is  that  it  was 
caused  by  a  sudden  depres- 
sion of  the  earth's  surface 
— a  caprice  of  nature.  No 
other  theory,  like  that,  for 
instance,  of  aqueous 
erosion,  or  fissure,  or  glacial 
action,  can,  it  is  thought, 
explain  the  almost  total 
absence  of  debris  at  the 
foot  of  the  hills.  Occa- 
sionally there  are  rock 
avalanches,  when  great  por- 
tions of  granite  are  detached 
and  fall  with  a  thundering 
crash  to  the  plains;  but 

THE    SENTINEL    ROCK. 

there    is    every    reason    to 
believe  that  where  they  have  fallen  they  remain  to  this  day,  which  would  not  have 


The  Yosemite. 


21 


been  the  case  had  there  been  any  glacial  disturbance,  or  the  rushing  of  a  vast 
body  of  water  for  centuries  through  this  gorge.  Do  I  put  this  correctly,  Mr. 
President  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Yes.  It  is  supposed  by  many  that  the  gorge  was  at  one  time 
a.  lake,  and  that  it  has  been  gradually  filled  to  its  present  level  by  the  falling 
masses  from  above. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  How  long  will  it  take  to  fill  it  up  by  this  means  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  We  cannot  tell  what  sudden  changes  may  happen  to  hasten 


THE  NORTH  AND  SOUTH  DOMES. 


the  comparatively  slow  action  of  climate,  storm,  and  gravitation  ;  but  we  might 
safely  put  it  at  thousands  of  years. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  Then  there  will  be  a  chance  for  all  the  club  to  visit  the  place  yet. 

CYRIL:  One  of  the  most  prominent  objects  in  the  valley  (we  are  going  north) 
is  a  group  called  Cathedral  Rocks,  about  2,660  feet  high,  and  from  some  points  of 
view  presenting  a  church-like  and  very  imposing  appearance.  Above  this  is  the 
Sentinel  Rock,  a  weird  and  solitary  peak,  or  rather  group,  4,500  feet  high. 

Below  the  Yosemite  Falls  are  the  mighty  North  and  South  Domes,  the  latter 
of  which  has  hitherto  defied  all  attempts  made  by  travelers  to  climb  it.  The 


22 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


sketch  of  rocks  and  bowlders  gives  an  idea  of  some  portions  of  the  valley  along  the 
course  of  the  Merced,  not  far  from  the  base  of  the  South  Dome,  and  it  illustrates 
the  President's  remark  about  the  rock  avalanches.  Another  sketch  gives  us  a 
nearer  view  of  the  South  Dome. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  We  have  not  heard  yet  about  the  discovery  of  this  valley. 


ROCKS   AND   BOWLDERS   IN  THE  VALLEY. 


CYRIL:  I  had  forgotten  to  say  that  in  1851  an  expedition  was  organized  by  the 

miners  in  the  Sierras  and  Foot  Hills,  to  pursue  and  punish  the  Indians  for  various 

outrages    they  had    perpetrated    upon    the    whites.       The    Indians    fled    to    their 

fastnesses,  and,  amongst   other  hiding  places,   this   one  was  discovered,   and   the 

"-   unfortunate  Red  Men  were  attacked,  and  great  numbers  slaughtered  in  this  very 


The   Yosemite. 


spot.  A  few  years  later,  tourists  began  to  visit  it,  and  in  1856  the  first  hotel  or 
ranch  was  built  there.  The  name  is  Indian,  of  course,  and  signifies  "  grizzly 
bear."  The  Indians  in  California  now  give  little  or  no  trouble  to  the  whites. 
The  tourist  meets  with  them  occasionally,  but  they  are  harmless.  In  the  Yosemite 
region  they  are  known  as  Digger  Indians. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :   How  did  you  get  out  of  the  valley  ?     Did  you  take  all  your 
party  up  the  precipice  at  the  Vernal  Falls,  or  return  by  the  way  you  entered  ? 


THE   SOUTH    DOME. 


CYRIL  :  There  is  a  rugged  and  steep  way  out  in  a  northerly  direction.  Some 
tourists,  indeed,  enter  from  this  direction.  As  you  ascend  from  the  valley,  the  air 
grows  perceptibly  cooler.  In  fact,  the  whole  region  is  subject  to  sudden  changes  of 
temperature,  and  to  severe  storms.  Cool  nights  and  hot  days  alternate  with  each 
other.  Our  party  got  thoroughly  drenched  in  a  rain  storm  on  the  road  to  Coulter- 
ville  ;  but,  after  we  had  proceeded  a  few  miles,  our  clothing  dried  upon  us,  and  we 
thought  no  more  of  it.  Some  carriages  were  waiting  for  us  at  the  first  point  in 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


the  road  available  for  wheels,  and  some  of  our  party  gladly  changed  their  method 
of  locomotion,  though  I  do  not  think  they  gained  much  by  it,  as  the   roads  are 


FRIENDLY    INDIAN. 


not  smooth  by  any  means,  and   in  some  places  the  driver  has  to  proceed  very 


The   Yo senrite  25 


warily,  or  he  would  upset  his  party  into  some  deep  ravine  or  abyss.  Coulterville  is 
a  small  mining  town,  and  the  tourist  will  be  in  no  humor  to  remain  there  longer 
than  necessary  to  recover  from  his  fatigue.  From  Coulterville  we  drove  some 
forty  miles  down  the  rugged  slope,  into  the  plains,  to  the  line  of  the  railroad,  and 
so  on  the  following  day  reached  San  Francisco. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  have  been  very  lately  reading  a  description  of  the  Yosemite 
Valley  by  Dr.  Russell,  one  of  a  party  accompanying  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  last 
June  in  a  rapid  tour  through  the  States  and  Canada.  A  friend  of  mine  in  London 
sent  me  a  copy  of  the  work.*  Dr.  Russell  says :  "  The  peculiar  and  unique 
feature  of  the  valley  seems  to  me  to  be  the  height  and  boldness  of  the  cliffs,  which 
spring  out  from  the  mountain  sides  like  sentinels  to  watch  and  ward  over  the 
secrets  of  the  gorge.  Next  to  that  is  the  number  and  height  of  the  waterfalls  ;  but 
it  is  only  by  degrees  and  by  comparison  that  the  mind  takes  in  the  fact  that  the 
cliffs  are  not  hundreds  but  thousands  of  feet  high — that  these  bright,  flashing, 
fleecy  cataracts  fall  for  thousands  of  feet."  He  adds  :  "  What  is  the  use  of  rolling 
off  a  catalogue  of  names  and  figures  ?  Even  the  brush  of  the  painter,  charged 
with  the  truest  colors  and  guided  by  the  finest  hand  and  eye,  could  never  do 
justice  to  these  cliffs  and  waterfalls." 

CYRIL  :  I  had  almost  forgotten  to  say  that  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  and  his 
party  preceded  us  by  only  two  or  three  weeks.  We  heard  a  great  deal  about  them 
from  .the  guides  and  others.  It  appears  that  some  of  the  party,  including  the 
Duke  himself,  were  very  much  amused  by  a  guide  calling  upon  the  Duke  to  help 
him  water  the  horses.  "  Here,  Mister  Sutherland,  hold  this  bucket,  please,  while 
I  pump."  There  was  a  good  laugh,  but  the  Duke  obeyed  with  alacrity. 

GRACE  :  I  rather  liked  to  hear  the  story.  I  do  not  suppose  the  man  meant  to 
annoy  the  Duke,  and  it  was  a  reminder  to  him,  anyhow,  that  dukes  and  lords  do 
not  grow  out  here. 

GILBERT  :  Perhaps  that  is  why  our  people  run  after  them  so  much  when  they 
do  come. 

KATE  :  Well,  people  cannot  help  being  born  heirs  to  dukes  and  duchesses.  I 
do  not  know  that  I  should  have  been  so  very  sorry  if  I  had  been  a  duchess. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  An  American  girl  who  is  true  to  herself  needs  no  title  to 
proclaim  her  nobility. 

*  An  American  edition  has  been  published. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


CALIFORNIA    AND    SAN    FRANCISCO. 

'HE  PRESIDENT  called  upon  Mr.  Merriman,  who  promptly  took 
the  part  of  leader  of  the  club  for  the  concluding  portion  of  the 
Californian  tour. 

Let  me  first,  he  observed,  give  a  general  idea  of  San  Francisco. 
It  is  situated  at  the  northern  end  of  a  peninsula  thirty  miles  long 
and  about  six  wide.  The  city  slopes  towards  the  east,  facing  San 
Francisco  Bay,  which  is  between  thirty  and  forty  miles  long,  and  from  seven  to 
twelve  miles  wide.  The  entrance  to  this  bay  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  is  through  the 
Golden  Gate  a  strait,  five  miles  long  and  a  mile  wide.  The  shores  of  the  Golden 
Gate  are  picturesque,  the  northern  being  lined  with  lofty  hills.  The  bar  has 
thirty  feet  of  water  at  low  tide,  and  the  bay  has  safe  anchorage  for  ships  of 
any  size. 

In  1846,  San  Francisco  was  a  mere  fishing-hamlet.  Gold  was  discovered  in 
1848,  and  in  less  than  four  years  the  city  had  a  population  of  35,000.  It  now 
numbers  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  million. 

On  the  eastern  shore  of  the  bay,  opposite  San  Francisco,  is  the  city  of  Oakland, 
bearing  a  somewhat  similar  relation  to  it  that  Brooklyn  does  to  New  York,  only 
that  Oakland  is  relatively  more  fashionable,  and  is  even  more  thoroughly  a  resi- 
dential city  and  suburb  than  Brooklyn. 

The  ferryboats  plying  between  these  two  cities  are  mammoth  boats,  with 
immense  saloons  above  the  deck.  The  distance  is  seven  miles. 

It  gives  one  a  strange  feeling  to  walk  the  busy  and  beautiful  streets  of  San 
Francisco  and  Oakland,  and  to  think  that  all  this  has  sprung  up  in  far  less  than  an 
average  life-time.  There  must  be  many  men  now  living  who  can  look  back  to  the 
time  when  it  was  an  unpretentious  hamlet,  and  when  no  one  dreamed  of  the  future 
before  it. 

26 


California  and  San  Francisco. 


27 


During  the  early  years  of  the  city,  things  proceeded  after  a  very  lawless  fashion. 
The  people  who  flocked  to  it  were  influenced  by  only  one  motive,  and  that  a 
powerful  one— the  thirst  for  gold.  There  was  no  strong  government  to  restrain  the 
unruly  and  punish  crime.  At  length  the  inhabitants  formed  a  Vigilance  Com- 
mittee, which  soon  became  "  a  terror  to  evil  doers,"  even  if  not  "  a  praise  to  those 
who  did  well."  Its  decisions  were  prompt,  and  its  punishments  severe,  though 
perhaps  not  -always  just.  It  was  not  until  1855  that  the  municipal  government 


THE   BAY    OF    SAN    FRANCISCO. 


and  the  regular  tribunals  of  justice  became  strong  enough  to  cope  with  the  situa- 
tion ;  but  by  that  time  a  new  element  had  sprung  up  in  the  city — a  class  of  men 
who  lived  by  trade  and  commerce,  as  well  as  by  mining,  who  were  in  themselves  a 
guarantee  of  good  order,  and  to  whom,  on  the  other  hand,  good  order  and  perma- 
nence in  the  institutions  of  government  were  indispensable.  Still  the  population 
of  the  city  is  so  heterogeneous,  and  the  rowdy  element  so  strong,  that  it  continues 


28 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


to  have  its  full  share  of  crimes  and  disturbances,  perhaps  rather  more  so  in  propor- 
tion to  its  population  than  the  other  large  western  cities. 

I  must  not,  however,  be  betrayed  into  giving  you  a  merely  statistical  narrative. 
Here  is  a  series  of  sketches  which,  without  any  words,  would  convey  a  very  good 
idea  of  the  Capital  of  California. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  When  I  visited  San  Francisco,  I  was  particularly  struck  with  the 
contrast  between  its  climate  and  that  of  the  eastern  cities  of  America.  It  was 
decidedly  cooler  in  the  summer  months  than  I  have  ever  known  it  to  be  in  New 


SAN   FRANCISCO,    1849. 

York,  and  I  understand  that  it  is  warmer  in  winter.  We  found  the  climate  of 
California  very  variable. 

MRS.  PAULUS:  Yes,  and  there  seemed  to  be  constant  fogs  in  San  Francisco. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  During  the  summer  months  the  prevailing  winds  are  from  the 
northwest,  and  the  cold  air  current,  striking  against  the  coast  range,  generates  a 
vapor  which  accumulates  in  clouds  and  mists.  But,  for  all  that,  the  Pacific  coast  is 
much  sought  after  by  invalids.  In  summer,  many  people  leave  San  Francisco  for 
Oakland,  and  other  points  on  the  main  land,  which  are  also  considered  desirable 


California  and  San  Francisco. 


29 


places  for  consumptives.  I  should  have  said  that  Oakland  is  the  stopping-place 
of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad.  The  bay,  of  which  a  partial  view  is  given  in  our 
sketch,  is  a  beautiful  sea.  On  a  clear  day  the  view  across  it  from  the  upper  streets 
of  San  Francisco  is  singularly  fine. 

The  streets  of  San  Francisco  are  very  irregular.  The  plan  of  the  city  is 
modeled  after  that  of  nearly  all  other  American  cities — straight  lines  and  right 
angles, — but  the  irregularities  of  the  ground  are  such  that  a  good  deal  of  engineer- 
ing has  been  called  into  requisition  to  preserve  even  a  moderate  consistency  in 
this  arrangement.  Steep  hills,  terraces,  and  in  some  places  steps,  which  forbid 


BIRDS-EYE    VIEW    OF    SAN    FRANCISCO,    1875. 

carriage  access  in  that  direction,  are  quite  common.  This  is  owing  to  a  large  part 
of  the  town  being  built  upon  the  side  of  a  granite  mountain. 

The  view  of  Montgomery  street,  the  Broadway  of  San  Francisco,  gives  an  excel- 
lent idea  of  this.  Here  the  crowd  is  more  cosmopolitan  than1  even  in  New  York. 
All  nationalities  are  represented,  the  Chinaman  especially  being  noticeable.  They 
are  an  industrious  and  thriving  people,  living  in  a  section  of  the  city  by  themselves, 
and  numbering  many  thousands.  I  was  amused  by  reading  a  description  of  a 
traveler's  adventures  in  this  part  of  San  Francisco  : 

"  One  night,"  says   Baron    Hubner,    "  I   was   returning  to  my   hotel   after  an 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


agreeable  visit,  and  being,  as  I  thought,  sure  of  my  way,  I  refused  the  escort  of 
my  host.  '  Turn  round  the  Chinese  quarter,'  was  said  to  me,  and  off  I  started. 
But  the  night  was  dark  ;  a  damp,  penetrating  fog  added  to  the  obscurity  ;  and  in 
San  Francisco,  from  Germany  to  China  is  but  a  step.  All  of  a  sudden  I  find 
myself  in  a  narrow,  dirty  street,  evidently  inhabited  by  the  yellow  race.  I  hurry 
my  steps,  but  in  the  wrong  direction,  and  here  I  am  in  the  very  midst  of  the  Chinese 
quarter.  As  far  as  the  thick  darkness  will  allow  me  to  judge,  the  streets  are 
completely  deserted.  The  houses  are  wrapped  in  sombre  shadow.  Here  and 
there,  red  paper  lanterns  swing  from  balconies.  At  every  step  I  stumble  against 
the  sign  board,  and  hear  whispering  inside  the  houses,  where  the  presence  of 

a  stranger  has  thus  been 
betrayed.  In  some  places 
the  darkness  is  complete, 
and  I  can  only  go  on  by 
feeling.  In  others,  mo- 
mentary and  vivid  lights 
creep  along  the  woodwork 
of  the  gilt  shop  shutters, 
and  light  up  some  grotesque 

NEW   CITY   HALL,    SAN    FRANCISCO.  -  -       ... 

monster,  or  the  cabalistic  red 

and  black  letters  on  one  of  the  sign  boards.  The  wind  increases  in  violence  : 
driven  by  the  gusts,  the  clouds  and  fog  sweep  down  into  the  street  and  hide 
even  the  stones.  I  pass  by  an  open  door ;  a  feeble  light  streams  from  it  ; 
I  hear  the  sound  of  voices  and  dice  ;  it  is  a  gambling-house.  A  man  placed  as 
sentinel  seems  glued  to  the  wall.  He  evidently  takes  me  for  a  police  inspector, 
and  rushes  in  to  give  the  alarm.  I  hurry  on  as  quickly  as  I  dare  over  the  slippery 
steps.  I  begin  to  see  at  my  feet  one  of  the  broad  cross-streets  of  the  lower  town. 
At  this  very  moment,  at  the  corner  of  a  blind  alley,  I  am  attacked  by  a  band  of 
women.  These  harpies  hang  on  to  my  clothes,  seize  me  with  their  horrid, 
bony  fingers  and  nails  like  birds'  claws,  and  peer  at  me  with  faces  besmeared  with 
white,  red,  and  yellow  paint.  Fighting  my  way  as  best  I  can,  I  at  last  manage  to 
rid  myself  of  them,  and  followed  by  their  screams  and  imprecations — luckily  their 
mutilated  feet  prevented  their  running  after  me — I  reach  civilization,  my  face 


THE   CHINESE    QUARTER,    SAN    FRANCISCO. 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America, 


streaming  with  perspiration,  and  in  half  an  hour  more  I  arrive  safely  at  my 
hotel." 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  The  Baron  was  fortunate  to  get  off  so  easily. 

CLARA:  Are  all  the  Chinese  people  bad  and  depraved  in  San  Francisco? 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  By  no  manner  of  means.  Some  of  them  are  highly  reputable 
and  wealthy  merchants.  But  as  a  class  the  Chinese  are  dealt  rather  hardly  by, 


MONTGOMERY  STREET,  SAN  FRANCISCO. 


and  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  more  brutish  among  them  retaliate  upon  the  white 
man  wherever  an  opportunity  presents  itself.  Besides,  the  Chinese  quarter  in 
San  Francisco  is  under  very  poor  police  supervision. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :    The  picture  of    the    Seal    Rocks  represents  a  very  curious 
scene  which  the  San  Franciscan  shows  to  all  his  friends.     It  is  a  view  from  the 


34  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

Cliff  House,  a  hotel  about  six  miles  from  the  city,  connected  therewith  by  a  wide 
boulevard.  The  outlook  is  towards  the  Pacific  Ocean — and  a  glorious  outlook 
it  is.  In  the  foreground  are  these  rocks,  upon  which  the  sea-lions  or  seals  make 
their  holiday,  wriggling  and  clambering  up  the  sides  of  the  rocks  after  a  fashion 
which  partakes  of  the  marvelous. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  It  is  now  time  for  us  to  hear  something  about  other  portions 
of  California. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  With  pleasure.  Here  is  a  view  of  the  Pacific  from  the  coast 
of  Santa  Clara  county,  some  forty  miles  below  San  Francisco  county.  The  capital 
of  this  county  is  San  Jose,  a  thriving  city  of  some  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand 
inhabitants.  It  has  some  remarkably  fine  public  buildings  and  parks,  and  the 
climate  of  the  whole  region  is  mild  and  equable.  As  all  sea  views  are  very  much 
alike,  we  will  now  pass  into  the  interior,  and  I  will  ask  my  daughter  to  describe  a 
visit  we  paid  to  a  silver-mine  in  Virginia  City,  Nevada.  It  is  a  little  beyond  the 
confines  of  California,  but  near  enough  to  give  us  a  general  idea  of  mining  opera- 
tions in  this  part  of  the  world. 

CLARA  :  Instead  of  giving  you  my  own  description  I  shall  do  what  will  be  much 
better,  namely,  read  you  a  portion  of  the  description  of  the  same  journey  made 
by  a  lady  who  accompanied  us,  and  recently  published  in  Lippincotfs  Magazine. 
The  writer  says  : 

"  It  is  a  bright,  clear  day,  warm  as  June  in  the  sun — (it  was  August) — cold  as 
March  in  the  shade,  with  a  brisk,  sharp  breeze  from  the  bay,  blowing  the  white 
powdery  lime-like  dust  full  in  one's  face  ;  just  such  a  day,  in  short,  as  can  be  found 
for  eight  months  of  the  year  in  San  Francisco,  when  during  a  morning  stroll  you 
are  sure  to  meet  dusters  and  ulsters,  lace  shawls  and  seal-skin  jackets  ;  the  wearers 
apparently  utterly  oblivious  as  to  what  season  it  really  is.  *  *  *  The  Valejo 
boat  is  reached,  and  we  steam  out  into  the  bay,  surrounded,  as  one  generally  is  in 
every  California  steamer,  train,  or  stage,  by  commis  voyageurs  of  a  decidedly  Jewish 
cast  of  countenance.  Looking  back  across  the  rippling,  blue  water,  we  catch  one 
last  glimpse  of  the  town,  half  shrouded  in  a  soft,  golden  mist.  Farewell,  great  city 
of  contrasts,  of  the  very  rich  and  the  very  poor ;  of  the  Irish  millionaire  and  the 
Chinese  beggar,  of  the  palace  and  the  gambling-hell ;  of  the  breezy  hill-top,  and 
the  low  opium-scented  valley. 


36  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

"  The  sun  is  setting,  and  the  golden  mist  which  we  left  hanging  over  the  city 
like  a  soft  bright  canopy,  is  creeping  after  us  when  we  reach  Vallejo,  and  take  our 
places  in  the  train  for  Virginia  City.  Our  friends,  the  Israelitish  commis  voyageurs, 
have  dispersed,  and  in  their  place  we  have  tall,  bearded  men,  with  their  wives. 
They  are,  one  and  all,  without  a  single  exception,  talking  stocks. 

"  Early  the  next  morning  we  leave  the  sleeper,  and,  after  depositing  our  bags 
'and  shawl  straps  with  the  baggage  master  at  Reno,  start  empty  handed  for 
Virginia  City.  During  the  night  we  have  come  through  the  evergreen  Sacramento 
Valley,  but  now  we  strike  northward,  straight  up  into  the  Sierras.  All  vegetation, 
except  an  occasional  patch  of  yellow  tar-weed,  is  left  far  below  us.  The  great 
mountain  slopes,  bare  and  brown  as  we  near  them,  but  softly  purple  in  the 
distance,  and  the  clear  brilliant  blue  of  the  summer  sky,  are  all  that  we  see.  The 
road,  twisting  and  turning  as  the  ascent  grows  ever  steeper,  lies  so  close  along  the 
mountain  side  that  at  times  it  seems  as  if  nothing  but  a  miracle  could  keep  us  from 
plunging  into  the  valley,  many  hundred  feet  below.  *  *  *  Now  and  then  we 
rush  past  deserted  villages,  where  the  frail,  shell-like  wooden  shanties  are  already 
falling  into  decay.  Again,  we  stop  at  the  station  of  some  small  hamlet — city  by 
courtesy — perched  on  the  bare  hillside,  and  composed  of  half  a  dozen  miner's  huts, 
an  equal  number  of  saloons  and  billiard-rooms,  and  the  railroad  station." 

At  last  Virginia  City  is  reached,  built  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  and  looking,  in 
spite  of  its  large  houses,  "as  if  a  very  slight  push  would  send  it  reeling  into  the 
valley."  The  party,  after  the  usual  California  lunch  of  mutton-stew  and  pork-and- 
beans,  proceeded  to  the  mine. 

"  Following  our  guide,  we  entered  a  large  building  filled  with  rapidly  revolving 
wheels  of  every  size,  some  of  which  are  used  to  work  the  elevator  running 
constantly  up  and  down  the  main  shaft ;  while  others  move  the  immense  pump 
which  forces  the  cool  air  from  above  into  the  mine. 

"  Each  of  us  having  been  provided  with  a  bundle  of  rough-looking  garments, 
we  are  ushered  into  the  ladies'  dressing  room." 

At  last  the  party  are  properly  equipped  and  begin  the  descent. 

"  At  first  I  can  do  nothing  but  grasp  my  companion's  arm.  Then  comes  a 
sensation  of  floating,  but  upward,  not  downward,  and  it  is  not  until  I  see  by  the 
light  of  the  lanterns  that  we  are  passing  passage  after  passage  cut  in  the  granite 


California  and  San  Francisco. 


37 


walls,  and  each  one  lower  than  the  last,  that  I  fully  realize  the  fact  that  every 
moment  is  bringing  us  nearer  the  center  of  the  earth.  Almost  before  I  have 
collected  my  senses,  we  stop  at  the  mouth  of  a  large  cavern,  and  I  hear  W—  — 's 
voice  sounding  as  if  many  miles  away,  so  deaf  have  I  become  by  the  sudden 
change  of  atmosphere,  at  1,750  feet  below  Virginia  City. 

"  From    several    points    run  narrow  arched    passages    furnished    each    with    a 


SILVER   CITY,    NEVADA. 


railway  on  which  the  ore-cars  are  brought  to  the  elevator,  and  into  one  of  these 
black  openings  we  plunge.  On  and  on,  through  the  heat  and  darkness,  now 
slipping  as  we  step  by  chance  on  iron  rails,  now  passing  a  huge  pipe  connected 
with  the  air  pump,  now  standing  close  against  the  shining,  dripping  walls,  to  let 
pass  a  low,  heavy  car  loaded  with  ore,  and  pushed  by  a  couple  of  miners ;  then 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


on  again,  until  we  come  to  a  small  circular  cave,  the  walls  composed  of  heavy 
beams  of  timber  closely  packed  together,  but  bent  in  more  than  one  spot  by  the 
tremendous  pressure  from  above.  Some  of  the  richest  ore  has  been  found  here  ; 
and  a  little  farther  on  we  come  upon  a  group  of  men  at  work.  There  is  a  small 
pool  of  water  to  be  crossed  by  means  of  a  narrow  plank,  and  then,  one,  two,  three 

ladders  to  be  climbed,  the  heat  be- 
coming more  intense  at  every  step, 
until  we  reach  a  niche-like  opening 
where  two  men  are  at  work  —  or, 
rather,  where  one  man  works  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  while  the  other 
sits  with  his  arms  in  a  pail  of  ice-water. 
"  The  descent  of  those  frightful 
ladders  is,  if  possible,  more  perilous 
than  the  ascent.  We  follow  our 
guides  up  one  passage  and  down 
another,  till  a  heavy  curtain,  which 
hangs  from  wall  to  wall,  is  pushed 
aside,  and  a  hot  blast  seems  to  scorch 
our  very  bones.  From  that  moment 
each  step  is  one  of  increasing  agony. 
I  feel  as  if  the  whole  seventeen 
.hundred  and  fifty  feet  of  earth  above 
me  were  resting  on  my  chest  ;  my 
blood,  which  seems  on  fire,  is  driven 
violently  to  my  head,  and  as  each 
fresh  wave  of  heat  passes  over  us  I 
gasp  painfully  for  breath.  The  next 
ten  minutes  will  always  be  a  haunting  memory  to  me.  The  long,  dark  passages, 
the  burning  atmosphere,  the  scattered  lights,  the  weird  figures  of  the  miners, 
appearing  only  to  vanish  the  next  moment  in  the  surrounding  gloom,  all  recur  like 
some  terrible  dream.  *  *  *  After  thanking  our  guide,  we  get  on  the  elevator 
and,  warmly  enveloped  in  pea-jackets,  return  once  more  to  the  upper  air." 


TRESTLE   BRIDGE   NEAR    SACRAMENTO   CITY. 


TALULOWEHACK    CANON,    SIERRAS. 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


ALBERT:  The  great  wealth  of  Nevada  is  in  its  silver  mines.  The  famous 
Comstock  lode  is  partly  beneath  Virginia  City. 

THE  PRESIDENT:  I  see  that  we  have  a  sketch  of  Silver  City,  which  might  be, 
by  its  looks,  the  scene  of  several  of  Bret  Harte's  stories — "  Smith's  Pocket,"  for 
instance.  I  know  no  better  way  of  familiarizing  oneself  with  the  peculiarities  of 

this  wonderful  section  of  our  country 
than  by  reading  Bret  Harte.'  Take, 
for  instance,  his  graphic  description  of 
a  snow-bound  party  in  the  Sierras  in 
"  The  Outcasts  of  Poker  Flat."  This 
is  suggested  to  me  by  the  picture 
before  me  of  Talulowehack  Canon. 
Imagine  winter  setting  in  suddenly, 
as  it  always  does,  in  such  a  scene,  and 
a  party  of  outcasts  snow-bound  at  the 
foot  of  one  of  those  hills. 

MRS.  MERRIMAN:  Do  you  think 
Bret  Harte  a  good  writer  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Decidedly.  He 
is  not  a  romance  writer,  but  he  is  far 
better  than  that,  he  is  a  graphic  and 
trustworthy  artist.  He  paints  men 
and  things  as  they  are,  or  have  been, 
and  accordingly  his  works  will  in- 
crease in  literary  value  with  every 
generation. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  I  would  like  to 
hear  Mr.  Goldust  give  us  some  infor- 

SNOW-SHED,    CENTRAL   PACIFIC   RAILROAD.  .  •-,  ,   ,          .      .  .       ^     ,.r 

mation  about  gold-mining  in  California. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  I  have  been  so  much  interested  that  I  ought  not  to  refuse  to 
contribute  a  little  to  the  fund  of  entertainment.  You  all  know  that  I  have 
lived  twenty-five  years  and  more  in  California.  I  went  there  in  1856,  a  poor  man. 
I  became  interested  in  gold-mining,  and  have  been  rich  and  poor  alternately  on  an 


A   CALIFORNIAN    MINER. 


42  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

average  every  three  years.  Fortunately  I  have  been  able  to  retire  at  last  from 
active  business,  and  unless  I  become  tired  of  traveling,  or  doing  nothing,  shall  in 
future  carefully  avoid  all  mining  speculations,  or  speculations  of  any  kind.  I  have 
been  looking  at  the  sketch  of  a  Californian  miner,  and  I  can  only  say  that  it  reminds 
me  of  some  of  my  earlier  days.  I  worked  hard  I  assure  you  to  get  my  first  capital 
out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth. 

LILIAN  :  What  are  those  men  doing? 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  The  man  holding  the  hose  is  directing  two  powerful  hydraulic 
streams  against  the  rock  to  loosen  the  earth  and  so  cause  it  to  wash  down  the 
sluice.  The  other  man  in  the  picture  is  shoveling  the  loosened  gravel  or  earth 
into  the  sluice,  from  which,  by  various  mechanical  or  chemical  contrivances,  the  gold 
is  finally  extracted. 

THE  PRESIDENT:  It  is  now  time  for  the  club  to  take  its  departure  from  the 
land  of  the  Sierras.  I  invite  you,  therefore,  to  take  your  places  in  the  train.  The 
journey  is  long  and  not  destitute  of  interest  or  of  peril.  You  will  be  thankful  to 
pass  in  safety  over  the  long  trestle  bridges  across  the  creeks  in  the  Sacramento 
Valley,  and  will  duly  admire  the  snow-sheds  and  deep  cuttings  through  which  you 
are  traveling  at  the  moderate  pace  of  twenty-two  miles  per  hour. 

GRACE  :  I  intended  to  state  that  there  is  an  interesting  article  on  the  Conif- 
erous Forests  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  in  the  Century  Magazine  for  last  September 
(1881).  The  writer  says  that  these  forests  are  the  noblest  and  most  beautiful  on 
earth,  though,  owing  to  the  shortness  of  the  time  which  has  elapsed  since  their 
discovery,  they  are  as  yet  but  little  known.  He  asserts  that  the  soils  on  which  the 
forests  are  growing  are  in  fact  glacier  moraines,  that  is,  soil  deposited  by  the  ice 
glaciers  after  being  crushed  and  ground  from  the  solid  flanks  of  the  mountains.  I 
would  like  to  know  something  more  about  these  glacier  moraines,  and  the  action 
of  ice  in  preparing  beds  for  the  growth  of  these  immense  forests. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  We  have  not  time  this  evening  to  go  into  so  large  and 
interesting  a  subject,  but  it  will  certainly  come  before  us  again,  and  your  curiosity 
may  then  be  gratified.  I  have  read  the  article  you  speak  of  with  great  inter- 
est, and  consider  it  an  excellent  contribution  to  the  natural  history  of  this 
region. 

The  proceedings  of  the  club  then  assumed  an  informal  character. 


CHAPTER    V. 


THE    GREAT    AMERICAN    BASIN    AND    UTAH. 

HE  second  meeting  of  the  J.  U.  T.  C.  was  held  at  the  house  of  Dr. 
Paulus.  Every  member  was  present,  and  also  several  invited 
guests. 

The  routine  business  having  been  disposed  of,  the   President 
invited  Dr.  Paulus  to  conduct  the  club  through  its  second  tour. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  If  you  look  at  the  map  of  America,  you  will  find 
on  the  western  portion  two  lofty  mountain  chains  or  systems.  One  is  comparatively 
close  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  includes  the  Coast  range  and  the  Sierra,  which,  though 
separated  by  an  extensive  and  rich  valley,  may  be  regarded  for  our  present  purpose 
as  one  system  ;  the  other  is  the  great  Rocky  Mountain  system,  running  from  the 
extreme  north  to  the  peninsula.  Between  these  two  mountain  systems  is  a  vast 
undulating  and  broken  valley,  called  by  geographers  the  Great  American  Basin. 
KATE  :  A  very  matter  of  fact  name. 

JOHN  :  German  bach,  brook,  or  place  of  flowing  water  :  geographically,  a  dip  on 
the  surface. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  We  are  now  descending  into  this  Great  Basin  on  its  western 
side,  hastening  down  the  Sierra's  slopes  as  fast  as  the  railroad  people  think  it 
prudent  to  draw  us.  Remember,  however,  that  the  Great  American  Basin,  though 
it  includes  the  whole  of  Nevada,  and  part£  of  Utah,  Arizona,  and  California,  is  far 
surpassed  in  extent  by  the  basin  or  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  which  lies  to  the  east 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Indeed,  geographers  not  uncommonly  ignore,  as  it  were, 
the  Great  American  Basin,  by  including  all  the  three  mountain  systems  of  which  I 
have  spoken — the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Sierra,  and  the  Coast  range — in  one 
grand  system,  which  they  speak  of  as  the  Rocky  Mountains,  or  Pacific  coast  range, 
in  opposition  to  the  great  Appalachian  or  Eastern  mountain  system.  But  for  the 
present  we  have  to  do  with  this  great  valley,  and  not  with  the  whole  of  it  either. 

43 


44 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


We  have  some  picturesque  views  here  which  will  help  us  in  some  degree  to  under- 
stand what  this  valley  or  basin  is  like.  It  is  by  no  means  uniform  in  its  features, 
but  presents  almost  infinite  variety  of  physical  aspect,  and  is  at  present  the  scene  of 
some  of  the  strangest  developments  in  human  character  and  history. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Will  Dr.  Paulus  mention  some  of  the  special  geological  and 
physical  features  of  this  Basin  ? 

DR.  PAULUS  :  I  presume  you  refer  to  the  peculiarity  that  it  is  what  I  may  term 
self-drained.  None  of  its  rivers  seem  to  have  any  outlet  towards  the  sea.  The 
region,  however,  abounds  in  lakes,  in  some  of  which  the  water  is  salt.  These  lakes 


GREAT    AMERICAN    DESERT. 


receive  the  rivers,  but  in  consequence  of  the  little  rainfall  and  the  .great  evapora- 
tion they  rarely  have  any  outlet — the  Great  Salt  Lake,  for  instance  ;  or,  if  they 
have,  the  stream  is  usually  soon  absorbed  in  the  earth. 

JOHN  :  I  understand  that  this  region,  though  comparatively  depressed,  is  an 
elevated  plateau,  with  ranges  of  hills  running  through  it,  generally  north  and  south. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  Yes,  and  these  hills  are  of  a  volcanic  origin,  treeless,  and 
rain  is  gradually  washing  their  substance  down  into  the  valleys.  But  enough  of 
these  preliminaries.  That  portion  of  this  Great  Basin  we  are  now  entering  is  very 
peculiar,  and  to  the  eye  unattractive.  It  is  termed  the  Great  American  Desert,  and 
is  applied  especially  to  a  tract  of  land  some  seventy  to  one  hundred  miles  square, 


The  Great  American  Basin  and  Utah. 


45 


though  of  very  irregular  outline,  and  apparently  utterly  profitless  and  barren,  both 
in  an  agricultural  and  mineral  sense.  In  traveling  through  this  region  the  eye 
sees  only  bare,  brown  hills  and  plains,  covered  with  sand  and  alkali,  with  a  thin 
growth  of  sage-bush,  and  grass.  There  is  no  water  visible.  Special  trains  con- 
vey this  necessary  commodity  daily  to  the  different  stations  along  the  railroad. 
In  wet  weather  the  soil  becomes  like  mortar,  and  traveling,  except  by  the  railroad, 
is  well  nigh  impossible. 

LILIAN  :   Does   sage  grow  out  in  this  desert  ?     I  should  think  that  there  must 
be  good  soil  in  it  somewhere. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  It  is  not  the  garden  sage,  nor  anything  like  it.  The  sage- 
bush  is  a  species  of  Arte- 
misia, the  wormwood 
group  of  the  order  Com- 
posite?. It  seems  indige- 
nous to  these  dry  alkaline 
soils,  and  as  it  is  a  shrub- 
by plant,  it  makes  good 
fire-wood  in  these  regions. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  We  are 
now  entering,  if  you  please, 
the  confines  of  Utah  terri- 
tory. 

GRACE  :  The  land  of 
Blue-beards. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  Most  of 
it,  unfortunately,  is  held  by  the  Mormons ;  but  they  will  not  interfere  with  us,  though 
we  may  have  a  little  to  say  about  them  by  and  by.  Here  is  Corinna,  not  a  Mor- 
mon town,  though  in  Utah. 

KATE  :  It  does  not  look  much  of  a  place. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  No,  nor  very  picturesque  ;  but  it  is  a  specimen  of  a  frontier  city, 
and  has  a  large  trade  with  the  great  mining  regions  of  this  great  Basin.  At 
Ogden  City  we  leave  the  Union  Pacific  for  the  Utah  railroad  for  Salt  Lake 
City.  But  before  going  there,  I  wish  you  to  look  at  some  beautiful  views 


CORINNA. 


46 


-  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


of    Utah    scenery,    after   which    we    shall    have    something    to    say    about     Mor- 

mondom. 

I  have     said    that    a 
portion   of  Utah  is  in  the 
Basin. 


Great  Basin.  But  as  we 
approach  Ogden  we  get 
nearer  glimpses  of  the  lof- 
ty Rocky  Mountains  ;  in 
fact  we  begin  to  ascend 
the  slope  on  the  east  side 
of  the  basin.  Here  the 
railroad  track  sometimes 
winds  along  the  bottom 
of  a  wild  ravine.  "  Canons, 
now  gloomy  and  savage, 
then  radiant  in  verdant 
beauty,  run  up  into  the 
mountains.  Waterfalls 
come  tumbling  from  dizzy 
heights.  Huge  masses  of 
rock,  torn  and  splintered 
into  grotesque  shapes, 
seem  to  have  been  fash- 
ioned by  the  fantastic  ca- 
prices of  genii,  rather  than 
by  the  unaided  operations 
of  nature."  One  of  the 
most  remarkable  of  these 
rock  formations  is  known 
as  the  "  Devil's  Slide,"  of 
which  we  have  a  view. 
There  is  a  hill,  or  rather 
dark  red  sandstone,  some  eight  hundred  feet  high.  Up  the  side  of  this, 


THE    DEVIL'S    SLIDE. 


mass  of 


48  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

from  base  to  summit,  runs  a  stratum  of  white  limestone  consisting  of  a  smooth 
floor  about  fifteen  feet  wide,  on  either  side  of  which  is  a  wall  varying  from  ten  to 
thirty  feet  in  height.  As  seen  from  the  railroad  it  resembles  a  huge  mass  of  ma- 
sonry, and  it  is  very  difficult  to  discover  by  what  natural  agency  it  has  been  pro- 
duced. 

Some  five  years  ago  a  celebrated  artist  visited  some  of  the  most  picturesque 
portions  of  Utah,  and  painted  some  remarkably  beautiful  pictures.  Amongst 
other  places  he  sketched  was  Moore's  Lake,  of  which  I  am  able  to  give 
you  an  engraving.  This  lake  is  eleven  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level.  It  is 
about  nine  miles  in  circumference.  It  lies  about  sixty  miles  south  of  the  railroad 
among  the  Uintah  Mountains.  The  water  of  this  lake,  as  might  be  supposed  from 
its  altitude,  is  always  very  cool.  It  is  generally  thought  that  this  region  has  been 
the  center  of  great  glacial  rivers.  Around  the  shores  of  Moore's  Lake  the  moun- 
tains rise  abruptly  to  a  height  of  three  thousand  feet  and  more,  and  from  the  top 
of  one  of  them  there  is  a  view  on  a  clear  day  of  over  twelve  thousand  square  miles. 
There  is  abundance  of  timber  and  very  fine  pasturage.  The  lake  evidently  gets 
its  supply  from  the  melting  snows.  We  are  now  in  the  region  of  canons — 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Pardon  me  for  a  moment.  Miss  Laura,  what  is  the  deriva- 
tion of  the  word  canon  ? 

LAURA  :  I  looked  that  up,  and  also  the  word  butte,  which  is  used  to  describe 
the  high,  pinnacle-like,  isolated  peaks  common  in  this  western  mountain  scenery. 
Canon  is  from  the  Spanish,  pronounced  canyon,  and  signifies  originally  a  tube  or 
pipe  to  carry  off  water.  We  use  it  in  this  country  to  designate  the  deep,  mountain, 
rocky  rifts  or  ravines,  with  precipitous  sides,  which  are  so  numerous  and  also  so 
grand  and  beautiful  in  our  mountain  regions. 

THE  PRESIDENT:  And  "butte?" 

•  LAURA  :    Butte  is  from  the   French,   and  means  a  high,  bold  hill.     It  is  pro- 
nounced, I  suppose,  as  one  syllable,  and  the  "  u  "  should  be  short. 

THE  PRESIDENT:  Thank  you. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  One  of  our  illustrations  is  of  Springville  Canon,  which  is  in  the 
Wahsatch  range,  directly  on  the  verge  of  the  Great  Basin.  It  certainly  gives  one 
an  idea  of  loneliness  and  desolation,  though  of  grandeur  likewise.  This  canon  is 
not  far  from  a  Mormon  town  of  the  same  name,  on  the  southeast  border  of  Utah 


COLPURN'S  BUTTE. 


50  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

Lake,  a  large  fresh-water  lake  flowing  into  the  great  Salt  Lake.  We  see  here 
plainly  the  action  of  the  water  in  cutting  this  enormous  and  gloomy  rift  in  the 
mountain  side.  You  can  look  down  upon  the  little  stream  from  a  point  fifteen  hun- 
dred feet  above  it.  And  I  understand  that  this  canon  is  only  a  specimen  of  many 
similar  ones  throughout  this  grand  mountainous  region.  Laura  has  spoken  of  the 
word  butte  as  descriptive  of  certain  hills.  Some  of  these  are  strange  and  awful 
monuments.  Immense  masses  of  rock,  a  thousand  or  two  thousand  feet  high,  per- 
haps, sides  almost  perpendicular,  and  looking  like  compact  and  solid  towers  of 
masonry  built  by  a  Titanic  race  of  men. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Favor  us,  Albert,  with  the  key  to  the  word  "Titanic." 

ALBERT  :  I  imagine  it  refers  to  the  Titans  of  Greek  mythology,  a  fabled  race  of 
giants,  far  back  away  from  any  historic  period,  powerful  enough  to  make  war 
against  Jupiter. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Whenever  a  vast,  gloomy,  and  awe-inspiring  object  is  before 
us  it  is  natural  to  think  of  the  traditional  heathen  stories  of  the  freaks  of  this  race 
of  giants,  hurling  mountains  at  the  gods. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  suppose  that  in  all  ages  and  among  all  races  of  men  the  love 
of  the  marvelous  and  the  idea  of  the  supernatural  have  been  prominent  character- 
istics. And  especially  do  we  seem  to  find  everywhere  the  idea  of  a  rebellious  race 
at  war  with  the  ruling  powers  of  the  universe.  I  wonder  whether  the  idea  of  these 
Titans  has  any  affinity  as  to  its  origin  with  Genesis  6  :  4-7. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  It  is  not  improbable,  as  we  see  a  strange  though  often  a  gro- 
tesque and  weird  likeness  to  Scripture  history  in  many  heathen  traditions.  I  think 
that  Frederick  Von  Schlegel  brings  out  this  thought  very  clearly  in  his  Philosophy 
of  History.  By  universal  agreement  of  ancient  traditional  sources  this  world  was 
early  the  scene  of  a  great  conflict  between  opposing  moral  influences. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  To  judge  by  the  frequency  of  the  references  to  his  Satanic  Maj- 
esty in  the  nomenclature  of  the  picturesque  and  grand  objects  in  creation,  that  per- 
sonage must  have  had  no  little  influence  in  this  world.  There  is  hardly  a  square 
mile  of  mountainous  country  but  has  some  point  named  after  him. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  In  the  Golden  age  of  Grecian  mythology,  man  is  said  to  have 
lived  in  peace  and  plenty,  and  in  happy  communion  with  the  gods  ;  but  this  was  suc- 
ceeded by  a  degenerate  or  Silver  age,  in  which  the  passions  of  men  became  turbulent 


SPRINGVILLE    CANON. 


52  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

and  wicked.  Then  followed  the  Brazen  age,  in  which  crime  and  disorder  reached  its 
highest  pitch.  This  was  the  age  of  the  Titans,  and  of  their  war  against  the  gods, 
which  issued  in  the  triumph  of  the  latter.  But  the  Grecian  mythology  does  not 
embrace  the  idea  of  an  elevation  or  restoration  of  mankind.  It  gives  us  the  Iron 
age  as  the  closing  term  of  human  degeneracy,  and  there  it  leaves  us.  The  idea  of 
malevolent  supernatural  influences  being  at  work  among  men,  fostering  this  evil 
spirit  of  disobedience,  and  causing  grand  and  awful  disturbances  in  the  physical  world, 
to  the  dismay  and  destruction  of  mankind,  is  universal.  It  has  been  reserved  for 
the  Christian  system  to  bring  out  the  truth  of  a  divine  fatherhood  and  rulership  of 
love,  through  whom  and  through  which  the  devout  may  find  safety  '  amid  the  wreck 
of  matter  and  the  crash  of  worlds.' 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  Utah  is  much  more  picturesque  in  its  physical  features  than  I 
supposed. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  It  is  divided  into  two  sections  by  the  Wahsatch  Mountains  which 
form  part  of  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Great  Basin.  The  waters  which  flow  west- 
ward find  no  outlet  to  the  ocean  for  reasons  which  I  have  explained.  The 
Wahsatch  range  is  grand  and  full  of  features  of  interest.  The  Uintah  range  is 
also  very  picturesque,  with  towering  peaks  covered  with  perpetual  snow.  For 
extreme  diversity  of  scenery  and  climate,  this  part  of  the  United  States  is  almost 
without  parallel. 

ALBERT  :  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  the  Great  Basin  becomes  populous. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  Portions  of  it  will  never  become  so,  but  it  has,  as  we  have  seen, 
great  mineral  wealth  locked  up  within  it,  and  some  of  it  is  already  finding  its  outlet. 

KATE  :  Perhaps  the  rivers  which  now  sink  into  it  may  some  day  find  their  way 
out  also. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  At  Humboldt  wells  there  are  about  thirty  springs,  some  of  which 
have  been  sounded  over  500  yards  without  touching  bottom.  As  these  springs 
rise  to  the  surface  it  is  supposed  that  they  may  be  the  outlet  of  some  vast  sub- 
terranean lake.  But  the  surrounding  region  is  most  desolate,  and,  I  agree  with 
Albert,  not  likely  to  attract  visitors  at  present,  although  it  is  thought  that  the 
Humboldt  valley  might  be  made  productive  by  irrigation.  Being  the  highway 
between  East  and  West,  this  valley  may  become,  in  the  near  future,  more  attractive 
for  labor  and  settlement. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

SALT    LAKE    CITY    AND    THE    MORMONS. 

R.  PAULUS:  I  have  here  a  series  of  views  of  Salt  Lake  City.  This 
place  lies,  so  to  speak,  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Great  Basin,  at  the 
westerly  foot  of  a  spur  of  the  Wahsatch  Mountains.  We  approach  the 
city  from  Ogden,  by  the  Utah  Central  Railroad,  which  follows  the  east- 
ern shores  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  Salt  Lake  City  is  about  twelve 
miles  from  the  southern  extremity  of  the  lake.  The  first  view  shows 
the  Wahsatch  Mountains  to  the  left  or  east,  so  that  we  are  looking  south.  The 
second  view  is  from  a  point  southeast  of  the  city,  and  therefore  looking  northwest, 
with  the  lake  in  the  background.  This  is  the  point  from  which  Brigham  Young 
first  saw  the  valley  which  was  to  be  his  future  home,  and  the  chief  city  of  his  de- 
luded followers.  And  here  I  will  ask  my  friend  Bertram  to  relate  to  us  some  of 
the  particulars  which  led  to  that  memorable  journey  of  Brigham  Young.  I  know 
that  he  has  been  studying  the  history  of  this  remarkable  heresy,  and  can  probably 
furnish  the  club  with  a  brief  summary  of  the  leading  incidents. 

BERTRAM  :  I  will  do  my  best.  The  founder  of  the  Mormon  sect,  as  everybody 
knows,  was  Joe  Smith,  who  brought  out  his  book  of  Mormon  in  1830,  and  in  the 
same  year  organized  the  Mormon  Church.  He  was  an  infamous  man,  notwithstand- 
ing his  claims  to  be  the  leader  of  a  religious  sect ;  he  tried  his  hand  at  banking,  and 
cheated  his  depositors,  and  was  otherwise  disreputable.  The  Mormon  Church  re- 
moved its  headquarters  from  place  to  place,  being  compelled  to  "  move  on  "  by  the 
authorities  and  public  sentiment.  The  irregularities  mostly  charged  against  them 
were  burning  and  plundering  houses,  and  secret  assassinations.  They  were  a  kind 
of  Ishmaelitish  people,  and  were  suspected  of  all  kinds  of  crimes  and  misdeeds.  At 
last,  I  think  in  1839,  tnev  concentrated  to  the  number  of  seven  or  eight  thousand 
in  Illinois,  and  built  a  city  which  they  called  Nauvoo,  in  Hancock  County.  They 
obtained  a  charter  from  the  State,  which  permitted  them  to  organize  a  little  army, 

53 


54 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


and  Smith  became  a  general,  as  well  as  a  self-styled  prophet  and  apostle.  For  a 
time  his  authority  was  supreme  in  Nauvoo,  and  the  Mormon  Church  increased 
rapidly,  but  at  length  his  immoralities  stirred  up  a  spirit  of  hatred  and  revenge 
among  his  people,  and  some  of  them  appealed  to  the  State  for  protection.  This 
led  to  a  kind  of  civil  war.  Smith  and  his  brother  were  captured  and  put  in  jail  at 
Carthage,  but  the  jail  was  attacked  by  an  infuriated  mob,  and  both  were  shot  dead. 
Of  course  Mormon  affairs  were  thrown  into  great  confusion,  out  of  which  they  were 
extricated  by  Brigham  Young,  who  had  been  a  rising  man  for  some  time  in  the 


SALT   LAKE  CITY   FROM   ENSIGN   PEAK. 


sect,  and  now  put  in  a  formal  claim  for  the  presidency  of  the  Church  and  was 
chosen  to  that  office.  The  State  very  properly  revoked  the  charter  of  Nauvoo, 
and  Young  conceived  the  plan  of  emigrating  to  some  far  off  place  where  the  Mor- 
mons would  be  likely  to  be  undisturbed  for  a  great  number  of  years.  He  pros- 
pected around  in  the  vast  region  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  at  last,  in  1847,  fixed 
upon  the  site  of  a  city,  and  the  Mormons,  who  had  been  having  a  hard  time  of  it 
at  Nauvoo,  flocked  thither  to  a  man,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  city. 

DR.   PAULUS  :  Admirably  sketched,  Mr.  Bertram.     And  now  I  will  do  the  Mor- 
mons the  justice  to  say  that  their  emigration  or  exodus  from  Illinois  to  Salt  Lake 


56  Picturesque   Toiirs  in  America. 

was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  events  of  the  kind  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
The  distance  traveled  was  1,500  miles  and  more.  They  had  to  journey  in  wagons, 
on  horseback,  on  foot,  through  a  region  uninhabited  and  waste.  They  crossed  the 
great  prairies,  ascended  the  mountains,  penetrated  the  deserts,  and  defiled  through 
the  numerous  canons.  They  endured  indescribable  hardships,  and  many  died  on 
the  way ;  and  even  when  they  reached  their  journey's  end  they  found  no  welcome 
awaiting  them  ;  not  even  the  shelter  of  forests  and  the  luxury  of  a  well-watered 
valley.  For  years  they  had  to  live  on  the  hardest  of  fare,  and  often  to  suffer  hun- 
ger, thirst,  and  cold,  without  the  means  of  providing  sufficiently  for  their  most  ne- 
cessary wants.  But  they  had  faith  in  their  leader,  and  at  last  they  conquered  the 
desert  ;  they  brought  water  from  the  mountain  lakes  in  perpetual  streams  and 
brooks  into  their  valley  ;  they  built  themselves  homes,  and  in  fact  established  them- 
selves as  a  people  and  a  State.  However  abhorrent  and  detestable  some  of  their 
principles  and  practices  are,  history  will  do  them  the  justice  of  acknowledging  the 
magnitude  of  the  deed  they  accomplished. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  would  suggest,  doctor,  that  you  state  some  of  the  objection- 
able principles  held  by  the  Mormons,  so  that  before  we  leave  this  subject  we  may 
have  a  fair  view  of  the  case  as  a  whole. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  Certainly  :  and  in  doing  so  I  would  carefully  discriminate  be- 
tween the  mere  errors  and  delusions  of  Mormon  faith,  and  those  principles  and  prac- 
tices which  bring  it  into  unceasing  and  essential  antagonism  with  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. As  to  the  pretended  revelations  of  Joe  Smith,  and  all  the  mockery  and  mim- 
icry of  the  apostleship,  the  civil  state  or  government  has  nothing  to  do  with  such 
things.  It  has  no  right  to  interfere,  for  the  constitution  of  this  country  expressly 
provides  for  the  fullest  enjoyment  of  religious  liberty  compatible  with  the  general 
laws  of  morality  which  the  nation  as  a  whole  has  inherited,  and  which  enter  into 
the  spirit  of  the  commonwealth.  The  most  conspicuous  and  obnoxious  tenet  of 
the  Mormon  Church  is  its  inculcation  of  polygamy. 

ALBERT  :  Do  they  not  base  this  upon  the  practices  of  the  patriarchs  ? 

DR.  PAULUS  :  Certainly ;  but  Christian  civilization,  as  founded  on  the  New 
Testament  and  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ,  discountenances  polygamy,  as  opposed 
to  the  highest  interests  of  mankind,  and  as  ruinous  to  the  proper  claims  and  rights 
of  womanhood. 


Salt  Lake  City  and  the  Mormons.  57 

CLARA  :  Lady  Duffus  Hardy,  in  her  book  "  Through  Cities  and  Prairie  Lands," 
narrates  a  conversation  with  a  Mormon  railroad  conductor  on  the  Salt  Lake  City 
line,  who  says  that  there  are  many  Mormons  who  never  dream  of  taking  more 
than  one  wife. 

BERTRAM  :  And  she  also  says  that  the  women  have  been  trained  from  child- 
hood to  believe  that  polygamy  is  right,  and  that  the  natural  rebellion  they  feel  is 
regarded  by  them  as  the  voice  of  the  evil  one,  to  be  stilled  only  by  prayers  and 
self-mortification. 

MRS.  WARLIKE  :  I  should  like  to  have  the  making  of  laws  for  Utah  for  the  next 
ten  years.  I  would  make  it  rather  hot  for  these  polygamous  husbands. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  Another  obnoxious  principle  of  the  Mormon  Church  is  its  claim 
over  the  consciences  and  lives  of  its  followers,  ordering  them  to  undertake  services 
in  its  behalf,  to  their  peril  and  danger ;  sentencing  them  to  death  if  their  offenses 
come  within  the  range  of  such  extreme  penalty ;  doing  all  this,  not  in  open  tri- 
bunals and  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  law  and  order,  but  secretly,  despot- 
ically, in  defiance  of  personal  rights  and  liberties,  and  often  in  violation  of  law. 
Christian  civilization  has  an  extreme  horror  of  secret  tribunals.  It  believes  in  law 
and  publicity,  and  in  the  rights  of  conscience  and  of  the  individual  citizen.  These 
two  features  of  the  Mormon  Church — polygamy  and  secret  irresponsible  despotism — 
bring  it  into  direct  opposition  with  the  enlightened  public  sentiment  of  this  coun- 
try and,  I  may  say,  of  Christendom. 

COL.  WARLIKE  :  It  is  a  kind  of  expanded  and  rampant  papacy,  with  a  Jesuitical 
taint  of  the  rankest  and  most  dangerous  complexion. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  Undoubtedly.  Purify  the  Mormon  Church  of  these  two  mala- 
dies, and  the  nation  will  not  quarrel  with  them  about  their  eccentricities  of  belief, 
and  they  may  remain  in  Utah  to  all  time.  As  it  is,  there  is  a  ripple,  and  perhaps 
more,  of  public  sentiment  among  the  strict  Mormons  of  a  new  exodus  to  some 
region  even  yet  beyond  the  borders  of  Christian  settlement,  or  possibly  to  a  coun- 
try where  their  practices  may  be  less  repugnant  to  public  sentiment.  But  it  is 
time  for  us  to  proceed  on  our  journey,  or  at  any  rate  to  look  around  us  a  little  in 
this  strange  place. 

Very  different  the  scenes  presented  in  these  pictures  to  those  which  greeted 
the  eye  of  Brigham  Young  and  his  companions  in  1847 — thirty-five  years  ago. 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


Here  we  have  a  very  beautiful  city,  well  wooded,  richly  watered,  and  bearing  all 
manner  of  fruits  in  her  enclosed  orchards  and  gardens ;  with  the  added  charm  of 
mountain  scenery,  and  the  proximity  of  a  noble  inland  sea.  The  city,  which  is  the 
capital  of  Salt  Lake  county,  as  well  as  of  the  territory  of  Utah,  is  large,  populous, 
and  beautiful.  It  is  laid  out  in  blocks  of  six  hundred  and  sixty  feet  square,  sepa- 
rated by  streets  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet  wide.  Ditches  or  cuttings  run 
through  most  of  the -streets,  on  both  sides,  filled  with  water  brought  from  a  dis- 
tance. Most  of  the  streets  are  lined  with  handsome  trees.  The  houses  are  generally 
built  of  adobe,  and  are  of  but  one  story.  Some  are  very  large  and  handsome,  and 


THE    HAREM    AND    T.HE    RESIDENCE    OF    BRIGHAM    YOUNG. 


all  have  gardens.  The  public  buildings  are  not  numerous,  nor  very  imposing. 
The  Tabernacle,  with  its  peculiar  dome-like  roof,  will  seat  fifteen  thousand  per- 
sons. Besides  this,  the  Mormons  are  building  an  immense  temple.  There  are  a 
number  of  smaller  places  of  Mormon  worship,  a  few  "  Gentile  "  churches,  banks, 
etc.  The  most  conspicuous  private  dwelling  is  the  house  which  Brigham  Young 
occupied.  It  is  rather  a  collection  of  houses  than  a  house,  and  is  still  occupied,  in 
part,  by  his  numerous  widows  and  their  families.  We  have  also  in  our  collection 
a  portrait  of  Brigham  Young  as  he  appeared  when  nearly  seventy  years  of  age — a 
remarkably  well  preserved  man,  one  would  say,  though  with  a  cunning  expression 
in  his  countenance,  which  is  far  from  attractive. 


Salt  Lake  City  and  the  Mormons. 


59 


Main  Street  is  the  chief  business  street,  as  its  name  implies,  and  to  the  visitor 
presents  a  unique  picture.  There  are  no  trees  on  this  street,  and  the  houses  are 
built  close  to  the  sidewalks.  The  style  of  architecture  of  the  different  houses 
varies  considerably,  but  many  of  the  edifices  have  considerable  claims  to  notice, 
and  are  quite  worthy  of  an  Eastern  city.  At  times  this  street  is  thronged  with 
bullock  wagons,  coaches,  and  carriages  of  every  description,  together  with  miners, 

Indians,  and  the  residents  of  the  city, 
passing  to  and  fro,  or  engaged  in  shop- 
ping. 

JOHN  :  What  is  the  staple  trade  or 
industry  of  Salt  Lake  City  ? 

DR.  PAUIAJS:  It  is  the  leading  trade 
center  of  the  territory,  which  is  fairly  rich 
in  mines  of  lead,  silver,  copper,  and  gold. 
There  are  also  coal-mines.  A  surplus 
of  agricultural  produce  comes  to  market, 
and  there  has  been  a  steady  advance  in 
manufactures. 

Here  is  a  picture  of  Mormon  emi- 
grants on  their  way  to  Salt  Lake  City. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  settlement, 
Brigham  Young  relied  for  recruits  chiefly 
upon  foreign  countries.  In  England  and 
Wales,  Australia,  and  on  the  continent 
of  Europe,  the  Mormon  missionaries 
have  for  years  been  busy  in  the  work 
of  proselytizing.  Scarcely  a  rural  village 
in  England,  and  more  particularly  in 
Wales,  but  has  been  the  scene  of  this  kind  of  preaching ;  and  many  of  them  have 
yielded  converts.  These  are  invariably  from  the  poorest  and  most  ignorant  of 
the  population,  to  whom  the  word-pictures,  skillfully  drawn,  of  the  paradise  await- 
ing them  in  America,  if  they  will  but  join  their  fortunes  with  the  faithful,  present 
a  vivid  contrast  with  the  life  of  toil  and  penury  to  which  they  seem  inevitably 


BRIGHAM   YOUNG. 


6o 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


doomed  in  the  land  of  their  birth.  These  missionaries  are  skillful  in  adapting  their 
appeals  to  the  varied  conditions  of  their  auditors.  Their  object  is  to  get  men  and 
women  and  children.  The  necessary  funds  are  supplied  by  the  Mormon  Church 
— the  principal  use  to  which  the  contributions  and  tithes  of  the  ''faithful"  are 
devoted.  Here  is  a  fine  company  on  their  way  to  the  promised  land — fathers  and 
mothers,  young  men  and  young  women,  boys  and  girls.  You  do  not  see  any  old 
or  decrepit  people.  They  have  encamped  ori  a  spot  which  overlooks  the  valley  of 
the  Salt  Lake,  though  at  a  great  distance,  and  with  eager,  longing  hearts  they  are 
striving  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  blessed  place  !  Every  one  has  his  or  her  own 


MAIN    STREET    IN    SALT    LAKE    CITY. 


vision  of  prospective  happiness.  All  the  visions  are  not  alike,  but  they  are  all 
tinged  with  a  rosy  hue.  There  is  work  before  them,  but  there  is  plenty  also,  and 
abounding  delights  and  comforts  which  will  be  to  them  a  present  and  palpable 
pledge  of  the  bliss  which  they  will  enjoy  in  the  life  to  come,  Mormonism  is  essen- 
tially materialistic  in  its  views  of  things.  The  Mormon  idea  of  God  is  of  a  Being 
of  flesh  and  blood.  Jesus  Christ  is  His  Son.  Man  has  existed  from  all  eternity, 
and  the  future  life,  in  some  other  world,  will  be  but  a  continuance  of  beings  hold- 
ing the  same  relations  as  they  do  here,  and  similarly  constituted.  No  wonder  that 
this  group  of  people  is  characterized  by  such  an  aspect  of  hopefulness  and  of  joyous 
anticipation  as  manifests  itself  on  every  countenance  and  in  every  bodily  attitude. 


62 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


I    think    that    the    artist    has   been   very  skillful    in    giving  this  character  to  the 
picture. 

Arrived  at  their  destination,  a  convenient  camping  place  is  found  for  them, 
while  the  bishops  and  heads  of  the  church  go  around  and  ascertain  the  capabilities 
and  the  history  of  each  person.  Work  is  found  for  all.  The  idea  of  letting  the 
new  arrivals  drift  helplessly  along,  or  entering  into  a  contest  for  existence  without 


"WORK   AND    FAITH."      MORMONS   WORKING   AT   THE   GRANITE   FOR   THE   TEMPLE. 

guidance,  is  not  to  be  thought  of.  Unfortunate,  indeed,  it  is,  that  all  this  won- 
derful executive  talent  is  at  the  service  and  in  the  cause  of  so  infamous  a  system 
as  that  of  Mormonism. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  have  often  wondered  at  the  superiority  of  many  of  the  meth- 
ods and  plans  in  furtherance  of  evil  systems  over  those  which  are  put  into  operation 
by  good  men  for  good  purposes.  As  a  rule,  the  churches  of  Christendom  take  no 


Salt  Lake  City  and  the  Mormons. 


interest  whatever  in  advancing  the  material  interests  of  their  people.  They  will 
contribute  and  bestow  money  in  charity,  but  the  general  plan  is  to  let  men  severely 
alone,  to  struggle  in  life  as  best  they  may,  without  sympathy  or  guidance,  unless 
they  come  as  paupers  for  charity,  and  then  they  are  stamped  at  once  as  degraded. 
Why  should  not  Christian  churches  in  America  do  the  work  for  humanity  which 
Mormonism  only  pretends  to  do?  Why  should  a  Mormon  emigration  system  suc- 
ceed, while  the  planting  of  a  Rugby  Colony  becomes  abortive  of  the  good  intended  ? 
Why  should  Christian  communities  sit  by  in  luxury,  seeing  Christian  men  contend 
against  superior  forces,  when  a  little  practical  sympathy  would  save  many  a  valu- 


CAMP    DOUGLASS. 


able  life,  and  people  many  a  desert  region?  It  is  not  only  charity  for  the  sick  and 
help  for  the  victims  of  some  special  calamity,  or  the  care  of  a  few  miserable  street 
Arabs,  that  Christianity  enjoins  upon  us  ;  it  is  brotherly  sympathy  of  man  for  men 
— the  union  of  forces  against  the  common  enemy. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  I  cannot  attempt  to  answer  those  pertinent  questions.  The 
subject  is  one  that  deserves  the  most  practical  thoughts  of  our  wisest  men  and 
women.  -Here  is  a  suggestion  in  the  picture  "Work  and  Faith."  See  how  from 
the  granitic  mountain  sides  are  hewn  out  the  massive  stones  to  be  shaped  and 
polished  for  the  great  Mormon  temple.  So,  from  the  mountain  masses  of  humanity 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


may  be  shaped  the  polished  stones  for  the  spiritual  palace  of  the  skies.  Nothing 
can  be  achieved  without  toil,  but  faith  is  needed  to  sustain  the  toiler  ;  otherwise 
he  sinks  into  the  gloom,  sooner  or  later,  of  utter  despair. 

The  idea  of  the  Mormon  Church  is  to  interest  itself  (for  its  own  welfare  chiefly) 
in  every  new  comer.  Work,  food,  social  companionship,  are  found  for  all.  Money 
is  advanced  to  those  who  enter  upon  farming.  It  is  secured  by  mortgages,  and 
becomes  often  a  permanent  burden  ;  but  meanwhile  there  is  a  visible  means  of 
support,  and  poverty,  in  the  sense  in  which  that  word  is  understood  in  populous 


SALT   LAKE. 


communities  elsewhere,  is  unknown.  The  Mormon  farmer  may  be  heavily  in  debt 
to  his  church,  but  somehow  he  thrives  very  well  and  is  more  than  content. 

GILBERT  :  Suppose  a  Mormon  should  be  converted  back  again  to  Christianity, 
can  he  get  away  easily  from  his  new  associations  ? 

DR.  PAULUS  :  I  understand  that  the  conversion  of  a  Mormon  is  a  very  rare 
event.  They  are  under  a  grip  which  never  relaxes  its  hold.  And  there  are  secret 
laws  against  perverts,  which  the  Church  does  not  hesitate  to  put  into  execution, 
so  that  it  is  highly  dangerous  for  any  one  to  renounce  Mormonism  after  having 
once  embraced  it.  But,  notwithstanding  this,  I  have  an  idea  that  Mormonism  can- 


Salt  Lake  City  and  the  Mormons.  65 

not  withstand  the  moral  forces  which  accompany  an  aggressive  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. Already  a  large  proportion  of  the  residents  of  Utah  are  "  gentiles,"  and  if, 
in  the  progress  of  settlement,  the  latter  should  become  the  numerical  majority, 
Mormonism  must  gradually  change  its  character  or  disappear. 

The  last  picture  in  this  group  is  of  the  military  camp  at  Fort  Douglass,  where 
the  United  States  government  maintains  a  force  of  soldiers.  It  was  with  extreme 
reluctance  that  the  Mormons  admitted  the  right  of  the  government  to  establish 
this  fort,  but  they  had  finally  to  submit.  Whether  with  a  prompt  demonstration 
of  military  power  the  Mormon  Church  could  be  made  to  abandon  her  obnoxious 
tenets  and  practices  is  a  question  upon  which  the  country  is  deeply  agitated  at  the 
present  moment.  Many  think  that  the  cancer  has  been  allowed  to  exist  too  long 
already,  and  that,  like  slavery,  it  will  now  require  a  very  vigorous  application  of 
the  knife  to  remove  it.  There  have  grown  up  political  complications  around 
this  question  which  make  it  a  difficult  matter  for  the  Executive  to  move  ;  and  yet 
it  is  generally  felt  that  the  crisis  is  near  at  hand,  and  that  firmness  above  all  things 
is  now  necessary  on  the  part  of  the  government.  But  we  have  not  time  to  discuss 
the  Mormon  question,  and  I  shall  cheerfully  give  place  now  to  my  friend  Bertram, 
who  is  to  give  us  some  further  light  and  help  over  this  Rocky  Mountain  region. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

ROCKY    MOUNTAIN    SCENERY SOUTH. 

ERTRAM  :  I  shall  have  to  take  you  away  from  the  overland  railroad, 
and  invite  you  to  perform  some  rapid  journeys  with  me,  as  I  lead  you 
to  some  picturesque  scenes  to  the  south  of  the  line  in  the  State  of 
Colorado. 

Before  we  leave  the  track,  however,  look  at  this  view  of  a  railroad 
bridge  over  one  of  the  creeks  or  valleys  in  the  Great  Basin.  The 
engineers  of  the  old  world  are  fairly  astonished  at  the  daring  of  our  engineers  on 
this  side  of  the  world,  with  whom  it  often  becomes  a  necessity  to  accomplish  feats 
which  could  never  enter  their  heads  if  they  were  constructing  railroads  in  countries 
of  a  less  bold  physical  contour,  or  with  unlimited  means  at  their  command.  In  this 
case,  for  example,  the  railroad  has  to  cross  a  chasm  of  perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
in  width,  and  several  hundred  feet  in  depth.  No  time  nor  money  for  elaborate 
masonry !  The  thing  has  to  be  done  quickly,  cheaply,  and,  withal,  effectively. 
This  leads  to  a  close  study  of  the  possibilities  of  timber,  and  the  result  is  a  bridge 
which,  under  inspection,  is  pronounced  perfectly  safe  for  travel.  Occasionally,  of 
course,  a  collapse  takes  place,  and  one  hears  of  engineers  rushing  their  trains  at 
full  speed  across  a  rickety  bridge  and  seeing  it  fall  to  pieces  behind  them  as  they 
just  reach  the  opposite  side.  Whether  such  a  thing  has  ever  really  happened,  or 
is  simply  a  feat  of  imagination  by  story  writers,  I  cannot  say ;  but  we  all  know  that 
not  long  ago  what  was  thought  to  be  a  very  solid  bridge  over  the  river  Tay,  in 
Scotland,  collapsed  suddenly  while  a  train  was  passing  over  it,  and  that  train  and 
passengers  disappeared  into  the  abyss.  On  the  whole,  the  timber  bridges  of 
America  have  stood  the  test  of  experience  remarkably  well,  I  think. 

KATE  :  Hiibner  says  that  the  last  sensation  of  fear  in  the  journey  from  the 
Rocky  Mountains  westward  is  the  peril  of  passing  over  the  trestle-work  bridges 
near  Sacramento  City.  I  suppose  this  remark  would  apply  in  general  to  trestle- 

66 


Rocky  Mountain  Scenery — South. 


The  greater  the  abyss  to   be  crossed,  of  course  the 
a  -general  idea  of  the  comformation  qf  canon 


work  bridges  everywhere, 
greater  the  apparent  peril. 

Here  is  a  picture  giving  one 
scenery  in  Colorado. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Will  some  member  of  the  club  be  good  enough  to  furnish  us 
with  a  few  geographical  and  other 
points   about  Colorado  ?    Perhaps 
you    are     prepared    to    do    this, 
Bertram. 

BERTRAM  :  I  have  collected  a 
few  particulars.  Colorado  is  about 
380  miles  east  and  west,  by  about 
280  miles  north  and  south,  and 
is  almost  a  parallelogram  in  shape. 
Geographically  it  may  be  said  to 
have  three  natural  divisions — the 
mountains,  the  foot-hills,  and  the 
plains.  The  mountains  intersect 
the  territory  north  and  south,  and 
have  many  branches  and  spurs. 
In  the  center  of  this  mountain  re 
gion,  behind  the  peaks  seen  from 
Denver,  are  what  are  called  the 
Parks,  a  series  of  immense  pictur- 
esque valleys  bounded  by  mountain 
elevations.  Of  those  the  principal 
are,  the  North  Park,  with  an  area 
of  2,500  square  miles;  Middle 

Park,  3,000  square  miles  ;  South  Park,  2,200  square  miles,  and  St.  Luis  Park,  nearly 
as  large  as  all  the  other  three  put  together.  There  are  many  other  smaller  parks 
scattered  all  through  this  mountain  system. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  These  parks  would  dwarf  the  noblest  of  the  magnificent  parks 
surrounding  the  palaces  of  the  titled  aristocracy  of  the  old  world.     What  scope  is 


BRIDGE    OVER    A   CREEK. 


68 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


there  not  in  these  regions  for  human  energy,  and  what  a  future  may  there  not  be 
for  a  country  so  richly  gifted  ! 

BERTRAM  :  Of  course,  if  I  were  to  invite  you  to  a  walk  or  a  ride  round  one  of 


CANON    SCENERY    IN    COLORADO. 


these  gigantic  parks,  you  might  reasonably  decline  the  invitation.  Here,  however, 
is  a  little  sketch  of  Middle  Park,  which  gives  a  good  general  idea  of  these  "pleas- 
ure grounds  of  the  gods."  The  foot-hills,  averaging  7,000  or  8,000  feet  in  altitude, 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


lie  to  the  east  of  the  mountains,  and  slope  towards  the  plains,  the  latter  consisting 
of  a  series  of  valleys  and  ridges  traversed  by  many  streams,  and  with  an  elevation 
above  the  sea  of  about  six  thousand  feet.  West  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  the 
easterly  side  of  what  we  understand  as  the  Great  Basin. 

The  parks  are  watered  by  numerous  small  streams,  the  head  waters  of  the  larger 

rivers.  They  are  most  interesting  re- 
gions for  the  geologist,  and  are  full  of 
mineral  springs  of  very  valuable  medicinal 
properties.  The  climate  of  Colorado  is 
said  to  be  remarkably  healthy,  with  mild 
winters  and  cool  summers.  The  high 
mountains  are,  of  course,  to  be  excepted. 
The  atmosphere  also  is  peculiarly  rare, 
invigorating,  and  tonic  in  its  quality. 
The  pasturage  is  excellent  and  capable 
of  sustaining  vast  herds  of  stock,  and 
this  industry  is  progressing  very  rapidly. 
Another  of  the  remarkable  features  of 
Colorado  scenery  is  its  canons.  Some  of 
these  are  within  view  from  the  cars  of  the 
railroad.  Here  is  the  Grand  canon  of  the 
Colorado,  where  the  river  cuts  its  way 
through  many  miles  of  solid  granite,  in 
some  places  7,000  feet  high. 

The  Clear  Creek  canon  is  on  the 
Colorado  Central  Railroad.  This  gorge 
is  so  narrow  that  in  many  places  the  tor- 
rent which  roars  along  the  bottom  fills 

up  the  whole  space.     Often  the  mountains  seem  to  close  in  upon  its  tortuous  wind- 
ings, so  as  to   leave  no  possibility  of  exit,  till  by  some  sudden  turn   a  passage  is 
discovered.       Far   overhead   are    peaks    covered    by    eternal    snows.       And    yet, 
through  this  canon  the  railroad  is  constructed — a  narrow-gauge  line,  of  course- 
following    the  windings  of  the  ravine,  and   with  the    sharpest  of    sharp    curves. 


MIDDLE    PARK. 


VIEW    OF   CLEAR    CREEK    CANON,    COLORADO. 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


This   road    is 


not,  however,  built  for  pleasure  purposes  merely.  It  traverses 

a  rich  mining  district. 

MR.  GOLD'UST:  The 
streets  of  Central  City 
are  paved  with  the  refuse 
from  the  gold-mines,  and 
jl  as  the  ore  has  been  only 
jjft  imperfectly  worked  they 
may  be  said  to  be  liter- 
ally paved  with  gold. 

KATE  :  Is  not  Leacl- 
ville  somewhere  in  this 
region  ? 

MR.  GOLDUST:  Lead- 
ville  is  on  the  Southern 
Colorado  Railroad,  279 
miles  from  Denver,  and 
the  center  of  the  Colorado 
silver-mining  district. 

It  has  sprung  up  into 
prominence  and  wealth 
within  less  than  five  years. 
Only  the  most  recent 
editions  of  the  encyclo- 
paedias contain  any  refer- 
ence whatever  to  it,  and 
yet  to-day  it  is  a  stalwart 
young  city  of  some  twenty 
thousand  inhabitants.  It 
is  in  the  heart  of  a  rich 

GRAY'S  PEAK.  .»  •    •         j  •    .    •    ,  j 

silver-mining  district,  and 

of  course  has  attracted  to  itself  not  only  enterprise  and  capital,  but  a  vast  amount 
of  the  ruffianism  and  lawlessness  of  the  nation. 


Rocky  Mountain  Scenery — South. 


73 


BERTRAM  :  Hare  is  a  pretty  view  of  Gray's  Peak  from  Middle  Park.  The 
snow-capped  mountain  in 
the  far  distance  is  Gray's 
Peak,  and  the  stream  run- 
ning through  the  center 
of  the  picture  is  the  Grand 
River.  Gray's  Peak  is 
14,251  feet  above  the  sea 
level. 

MRS.  GOLDUST  :  Is  not 
the  "Garden  of  the 
Gods"  somewhere  in 
Colorado  ? 

BERTRAM:  Yes.  I 
have  not  any  pictures  of 
it  but  it  is  the  name  given 
to  a  little  park  or  valley 
near  Colorado  Springs. 
It  is  about  five  hundred 
acres  in  extent,  and  is  shut 
in  by  mountains  on  the 
north,  west,  and  east. 
The  entrance  to  it  is 
through  a  narrow  defile 
called  the  Beautiful  Gate, 
and  it  contains  some  curi- 
ous rocks  of  red  and  white 
sandstone,  of  great  height 
and  of  singular  appear- 
ance. These,  I  imagine, 

..  r^-.  ^        i      ,,          i'i  BOULDER   CANON. 

are   "  i  he   Gods     which 

suggested  to  some  fanciful  tourist  t'h'is  strange  name.    The  surroundings  are  romantic. 
We  are   not  far  from  the  famous  Manitou  Springs,  situated  near  the  base  oi 


74 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


Pike's  Peak,  and  much  frequented  by  invalids,  especially  asthmatics  and  consump- 
tives. It  is  about  five 
miles  from  Colorado 
Springs.  It  is  the  correct 
thing  to  ascend  Pike's 
Peak  from  this  town,  and 
from  the  summit  of  this 
mountain,  nearly  15,000 
feet  above  the  sea,  the 
views  are  among  the 
grandest  in  the  world. 

And  now,  if  you 
please,  we  will  find  our 
way  to  Boulder,  a  small 
mining  town.  Near  this 
place  is  a  mountain  gorge 
called  Boulder  Canon, 
which  we  must  visit.  We 
must  go  in  carriages,  as 
the  canon  is  seventeen 
miles  long,  and  the  walls 
rise  precipitously  in  some 
places  to  a  height  of  3,000 
feet.  A  stream  rushes 
down  the  canon,  crossed 
in  many  places  by  the 
wagon  road.  This  canon 
differs  from  many  others 
in  that,  while  preserving 
almost  unrivaled  features 
of  grandeur,  there  is  an 
entire  absence  of  gloom.  The  roadside  is  decked  with  flowers  in  the  summer 
season,  and  the  eye  is  refreshed  by  the  infinite  variety  of  rock  and  dell  and  ver- 


BOULDER  CANON.   THE  FALLS. 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


dant  foliage.  This  place  is  a  great  health  resort  for  the  people  of  Denver,  who 
stoutly  maintain  that  the  Yosemite  Valley,  Niagara  Falls,  Delaware  Water-gap,  and 
European  Alpine  scenery  are  tame  and  commonplace  when  compared  with  the 
scenery  of  Boulder  Canon. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  Traveling  in  Colorado  does  not  seem  to  be  very  difficult, 
judging  from  the  quickness  with  which  we  manage  to  transport  ourselves  from 
place  to  place. 

BERTRAM  :  Of  course  we  are  specially  privileged,  as  with  us  time  and  distance 
are  annihilated  and  we  travel  on  the  wings  of  the  wind.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  development  of  the  railroads  in  Colorado  within  the  pact  few  years  is  one  of 
the  most  wonderful  features  of  that  wonderful  land.  They  are  all  narrow-gauge, 
of  course,  but  they  seem  to  laugh  at  engineering  obstacles.  They  pierce  through 
the  narrowest  ravines  and  ascend  the  steepest  mountains  with  an  audacity  that 
compels  admiration.  I  understand  that  the  civil  engineers  constructing  the  narrow- 
gauge  lines  in  Hindostan,  sent  a  representative  to  inspect  the  Colorado  lines,  and 
have  followed  many  of  the  plans  adopted  by  the  latter. 

I  have  preserved  two  sketches  showing  different  views  of  the  celebrated 
Boulder  Canon.  My  last  sketch  tells  its  own  story.  I  cannot  define  the  exact 
position  of  this  canon,  but  it  is  a  vivid  picture  of  many  a  weary,  patient  pilgrimage 
through  these  rocky  defiles  and  mountainous  solitudes.  Let  us  wish  the  travelers 
a  safe  journey  and  a  prosperous  future. 

The  time  for  closing  the  conversation  having  now  arrived,  the  proceedings  be- 
came informal,  and,  in  due  season,  the  club  adjourned,  to  meet  in  a  week's  time  at 
the  house  of  Mrs.  Victor. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


ROCKY    MOUNTAINS    AND    THE    YELLOWSTONE    PARK. 

HE  third  tour,  namely,  a  trip  to  the  famous  Yellowstone  Valley, 
was  the  subject  of  a  conversation  by  the  Club  at  the  residence  of 
Mrs.  Victor,  who  had  undertaken  the  duty  of  leadership  on  the 
occasion. 

The  preliminary  session  of  business  was  soon  over,  and  Mrs. 
Victor  began  as  follows : 
I  do  not  know  whether  to  be  sorry  or  glad  that  it  has  fallen  to  my  lot  to  lead 
this  Club  to  the  wonderful  region  of  the  Yellowstone  Park.  Lady  Duffus  Hardy, 
in  writing  of  the  Sierras  and  Pacific  Coast  mountain  region,  enthusiastically  says  : 
"  To  all  those  who  are  in  search  of  health,  of  novelty,  and  who  are  able  to  enjoy 
the  noblest,  the  grandest,  and  most  varied  scenery  this  world  can  boast,  I  would 
say,  '  Go  westward,  across  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  glorious  Sierras,  and  sit  down 
at  the  Golden  Gate."  I  would  take  the  liberty  of  adding — Do  not  omit  the  jour- 
ney to  the  great  National  Park  of  the  Yellowstone. 

We  start,  if  you  please,  from  Ogden,  and  travel  north  to  Virginia  City — not 
the  Virginia  City  of  Nevada,  of  which  we  heard  on  a  previous  evening,  but  its 
deserted  and  forlorn  namesake  of  Montana.  Here  we  provide  ourselves,  being  a 
large  party,  with  guides,  mules,  and  all  the  necessary  paraphernalia  of  a  camp,  for 
a  long  journey  is  before  us.  Or  we  can  go  by  stage  to  the  lower  Geyser  Basin  on 
Madison  River — it  takes  the  better  part  of  two  days  to  do  this — and  make  our 
headquarters  at  a  hotel  there,  We  can  find  there  horses,  guides,  and  all  necessa- 
ries for  our  explorations. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  It  is  an  extended  picnic,  I  presume. 

MRS.  VICTOR:  Indeed  it  is.  Remember  that  the  Yellowstone  Park  is  sixty-five 
miles  one  way  by  fifty  miles  another.  We  have  a  good  deal  before  us,  I  assure 
you.  I  need  hardly  say  that  we  have  chosen  the  month  of  August  for  our  trip,  as 
the  region  is  now  in  its  full  summer  glory,  and  traveling  is  unimpeded  by  the 

77 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


snows  ;  a  very  important  consideration,  as  we  may  be  detained  ten  or  fifteen  days 
sight-seeing  in  this  locality. 

As  we  have  to  compress  this  into  a  single  evening  on  this  occasion,  I  shall  not 
go  into  the  minute  and  hourly  details  of  our  journey,  but  simply  take  up  such 
points  of  interest  as  are  sketched  for  us  in  these  beautiful  pictures. 

Here  is  a  charming  view  of  Yellowstone  Lake,  a  magnificent  sheet  of  water,  of 
varied  outline,  but  averaging  say  twenty-two  miles  by  about  twelve.  It  is  seven 


YELLOWSTONE   LAKE. 


thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-eight  feet  above  the  sea,  and  the  surrounding 
hills  rise  from  three  thousand  feet  to  five  thousand  feet  higher.  The  physical  con- 
tour of  these  hills  is  very  romantic.  The  lake  is  deep  and  the  waters  clear  as  crys- 
tal. The  guides  say  that  there  is  excellent  salmon  trout  fishing  in  its  waters. 
Now  please  remember  that  this  is  the  highest  lake  in  North  America.  There  is 
only  one  lake  on  the  whole  continent  that  has  a  higher  elevation.  I  forget  the 
name. 

CLARA  :  I  can  tell  you  ;  Lake  Titicaca,  in  South  America. 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  It  is  glorious  to  stand  on  the  shores  of  this  lake  in  its  wild  solitude, 


Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Yellowstone  Park.  79 

and  think  that  we  are  upon  the  dividing  ridge  of  this  great  country  of  ours.  Fed  by 
the  snows  and  springs  of  this  region,  and  by  the  stream  of  the  Upper  Yellowstone 
from  the  south-east,  it  sends  forth  from  its  northern  shores  the  noble  Yellowstone 
River,  the  main  tributary  of  the  Missouri,  while  from  the  adjacent  hills  burst  forth 
streams  which  flow  westward  and  southward,  and  empty  themselves  in  the  Califor- 
nia Gulf,  or  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

JOHN  :  Is  this  lake  always  smooth  and  limpid  ? 

MRS.  VICTOR:  Towards  evening,  as  the  mountain  breezes  blow  upon  it,  its  sur- 
face becomes  rough,  and  like  all  mountain  lakes  it  is  of  course  subject  to  occa- 
sional storms.  But  the  general  a'spect  of  the  lake  during  the  summer  is  calm  and 
peaceful. 

KATE  :  I  wish  to  ask,  at  this  point,  why  you  enter  the  valley  from  the  north  or 
north-west,  instead  of  from  the  south  ? 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  The  Yellowstone  Valley  is  walled  in  on  all  sides  by  stupendous 
mountains,  and  those  in  lower  Wyoming  to  the  south  are  particularly  difficult  of 
transit. 

GILBERT  :  I  see  smoke  to  the  left  in  the  mid-distance  on  this  picture  of  the 
lake. 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  Probably  from  forest  fires,  most  of  which  result  from  careless- 
ness on  the  part  of  travelers. 

GILBERT:  Are  there  Indians  in  this  region? 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  Oh  yes.  There  is  a  large  Indian  reservation  in  Wyoming. 
Speaking  of  Indians,  I  read  in  a  recent  number  of  Appletoris  Magazine  of  a 
rather  romantic  adventure  with  the  Indians  in  Yellowstone  Park.  There  was  a 
party  of  four,  two  gentlemen  tourists,  a  guide,  and  a  soldier  from  Fort  Ellis.  Sud- 
denly the  guide  detected  a  cloud  of  dust  far  away  to  the  south,  which  he  said  must 
indicate  the  proximity  of  Indians.  By-and-by  the  Indians  came  nearer.  The 
rifles  were  made  ready,  but  as  the  savages  approached  they  made  signs  which 
meant  peace.  They  were  four  in  number,  and  the  writer  says  that  four  more  pic- 
turesque savages  could  not  have  been  desired  to  lend  romance  to  the  situation. 
One  had  on  a  bright  blue  coat  faced  with  scarlet.  All  were  well  armed  with  rifles. 
They  said,  in  broken  English,  that  they  were  going  to  a  council  up  in  Montana. 
Subsequently  the  travelers  learned  that  the  tribes  of  the  Utes,.  to  which  these 


8o 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


Indians  belonged,  had  just  broken  out 
into  a  revolt,  massacred  an  agent  and  a 
number  of  soldiers,  and  were  decidedly  on 
the  war  path. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  In  this  case  ignorance 
was  perhaps  bliss  to  the  travelers.  They 
would  have  been  rather  uneasy  if  they 
had  known  all  the  facts. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  People  do  not  get 
their  daily  papers  regularly  away  up  in 
these  wilds. 

MRS.   VICTOR  :    Our   next  view    is  of 
the  Lower  Falls.     Their  height  or  rather 
depth    is    three   hundred   and  sixty  feet, 
and  they    are    inexpressibly  and  grandly 
beautiful.       I  should  say   that    they  are 
situated  about    fifteen     miles     from    the 
northern  extremity  of  the  lake.     About  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  Lower  Falls 
are  the  Upper  Falls,  with  a  depth  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  feet ;   and  just  before 
these   are   a  series    of    beautiful    rapids. 
We  now  prepare     to    enter    the   Grand 
Canon,  an  immense  chasm  or  cleft,  with   its  walls  from 
a  thousand   to   fifteen   hundred  feet   high,  from  which 
the   river  seems   to  wind  along    at  the   bottom  like  a 
silver  thread.     We  have  a  picture  here  showing  a  por- 
tion of  this  canon,  with  the  Lower  Falls  in  the  distance. 
The   Grand  Canon   is  twenty  miles  in   length,  so  that 
you  see  we   have  a  long  task  before  us  to  explore  it. 
And  here  I  would  ask  the  Professor  to    favor   us  with 
some  information  about  the  geological  features    of  this 
wonderful  gorge. 


THK    LOWER    FALLS. 


Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Yellowstone  Park. 


81 


THE   PRESIDENT  :  I  have  never  visited  the  Yellowstone  Valley,  and  am   not  a 


CLIFFS    IN    THE    GRAND    CANON. 


professional  geologist,  and  cannot,  therefore,  offer  you  any  original  views  on  the 

6 


82  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

subject ;  but  from  all  I  have  read  about  it,  including  the  reports  of  Professor  Hay- 
den,  the  government  surveyor,  and  others,  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  this 
wonderful  region  has  been  the  scene  both  of  volcanic  and  glacial  action  of  a 
remarkable  kind.  The  volcanic  forces  are  evident  to  this  day  to  the  most  casual 
observer  in  the  immense  collections  of  hot  springs,  and  the  powerful  geysers 
which  form  some  of  the  principal  objects  of  interest,  and  about  which,  I  suppose, 
we  shall  hear  something  from  Mrs.  Victor  by-and-by.  The  solid  rocks  them- 
selves are  also,  many  of  them,  of  a  volcanic  nature,  consisting  of  lava  which  has 
been  belched  forth  age  after  age.  Ridges  of  basaltic  rocks  have  been  cut  through 
by  the  rapid  streams.  There  can  be  no  doubting  this  testimony,  and  other  evi- 
dences furnished  by  the  rocks,  which  are  eloquent  and  truthful  witnesses  to  the 
earnest  and  laborious  student  of  nature  as  to  the  events  of  the  immense  past. 
The  very  coloring  on  the  sides  of  the  canons,  so  marked  and  brilliant,  is  evidently 
due  to  the  action  of  water  at  a  boiling  temperature  ejected  from  numberless 
springs  over  the  surface  and  percolating  in  every  direction. 

KATE  :  Perhaps  it  was  this  peculiar  coloring  of  the  rocks  in  this  valley  that 
gave  to  it  the  name  of  Yellowstone. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Not  unlikely,  though  I  have  not  met  with  any  authoritative 
explanation  upon  that  point.  The  action  of  ice,  however,  in  the  canons  of  the 
whole  of  this  Rocky  Mountain  region  is  also  clearly  traceable.  There  was  a 
period,  no  doubt,  when  the  temperate  zone  on  this  continent  was  subject  to  much 
more  intense  and  continued  cold  than  it  now  experiences.  But  even  to-day  the 
present  existence  of  glaciers,  or  vast  moving  masses  of  ice,  forcing  themselves 
through  ravines  or  gorges,  and  carrying  with  them  boulders  and  detritus  from 
higher  regions,  is  demonstrated.  These  canons  of  the  Yellowstone  have  evidently 
been  subjected  to  this  experience.  Vast  blocks  of  crystalline  rocks  are  perched 
upon  the  basaltic  strata,  ten  and  fifteen  hundred  feet  from  the  bottom  of  the 
gorge.  And  there  are  proofs  enough  in  the  general  arrangement  of  the  mounds 
of  detritus  on  the  plains  and  along  the  bases  of  the  hills  to  warrant  the  inference 
that  ice  has  been  the  great  carrier. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  Do  not  some  geologists  think  that  at  one  period  the  whole  of 
this  northern  continent  was  submerged,  and  that  the  distribution  of  unstratified 
rocks  is  due  to  the  action  of  icebergs  ? 


Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Yellowstone  Park.                    83 
_ . . — — — — — s 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  That  was  the  theory  first  propounded  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell, 
but  the  study  of  terrestrial  glacial  action  of  late  years  affords  us  data  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  phenomena  we  are  now  referring  to  without  calling  upon  the  action 
of  water  at  all.  At  the  same  time  there  are,  in  other  places — for  instance,  on  the 
eastern  parts  of  this  continent — very  palpable  proofs  that  either  during  or  since 
the  deposit  of  glacial  drift  the  region  has  been  submerged,  allowing  for  the  deposit 
of  more  recent  strata,  of  clays  and  sands  overlying  the  drift.  But  we  must  not 
branch  off  into  this  interesting  topic. 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  your  explanations. 

BERTRAM  :  One  word  more  on  this  subject  of  glaciers.  I  have  been  trying  to 
conceive  how  the  ice  gets  into  these  mountain  gorges,  if,  as  you  say,  they  were  not 
filled  with  water. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Oh,  yes,  I  ought  to  have  said  that  these  regions  were  then, 
of  course,  regions  of  perpetual  snow.  The  snow  would  in  time  pack  the  ravines, 
and  by  simple  pressure  would  be  changed  into  ice.  This  process  is  going  on  in 
the  Alps,  and  in  other  regions  of  perpetual  snow,  at  this  moment.  The  whole  sub- 
ject of  glacial  development  is  one  of  great  interest. 

LAURA  :  Is  there  a  limit  to  this  glacial  action  on  the  earth's  surface,  or  is  it 
more  or  less  noticeable  all  over  the  world  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  believe  that  no  traces  of  diluvium  or  glacier  drift  are  found 
in  the  tropical  regions.  They  are  seen,  however,  in  the  southern  hemisphere, 
where,  of  course,  the  flow  is  from  the  south  pole,  northward. 

ALBERT  :  Are  the  Colorado  canons  of  the  same  nature,  geologically,  as  these  of 
Wyoming  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Generally  speaking  I  may  say  they  are  ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
nucleus  is  granitic  or  igneous,  there  has  been  free  volcanic  disturbance,  and  the 
evidences  of  glacial  action  to  the  limits  of  the  temperate  zone  are  abundant.  But 
I  fear  we  shall  drift  away  from  our  topic,  if  we  do  not  mind. 

KATE  :  Call  it  a  geological  drift. 

JOHN  :  Never  mind,  if  we  get  at  some  boulders  of  thought  or  knowledge. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :   Mrs.  Victor,  it  is  your  turn,  if  you  please. 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  Then  suppose  we  begin  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


THE    ROCKY    MOUNTAINS,    YELLOWSTONE    PARK,    ETC. 

RS.  VICTOR  :  We  will  now  leave  the  Grand  Canon,  graceful  for 
all  the  suggestions  it  offers  us  as  to  the  great  changes  that  are 
taking  place  on  this  globe  of  ours,  and  proceed  to  inspect  the 
beautiful  Tower  Creek  Falls.  Tower  Creek  is  a  small  tributary  of 
the  Yellowstone,  flowing  through  a  ravine  which,  I  am  sorry  to  say, 
has  a  Titanic  stamp  upon  it,  in  its  name — the  Devil's  den.  The  falls 
have  a  height  of  156  feet,  and  the  creek  at  their  base  runs  through  a  romantic 
glen  to  the  main  river.  The  pictures  will  describe  this  better  than  any  words  of 
mine. 

And  now,  after  just  a  peep  at  the  Lower  Canon,  about  which  much  could  be 
said  descriptively  if  we  had  time,  I  will  proceed  to  the  Geyser  districts  of  the 
Yellowstone.  These  are  classified  into  two  divisions,  the  calcareous  hot  springs  of 
Gardiner's  River  at  the  north  of  the  Park,  and  the  upper  and  lower  geyer  basins 
of  the  Madison  River,  farther  to  the  south  and  west  of  Madison  Lake.  Here  is  a 
view  of  the  hot  springs  on  Gardiner's  River.  The  club  will  look  at  it  while  I  tell 
them  all  I  know  about  it. 

CYRIL  :  The  artist  has  had  the  good  sense  to  introduce  two  people — members 
of  the  J.  U.  T.  C.  J  suppose — in  the  foreground.  One  has  a  large  portfolio  under 
his  arm. 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  You  may  imagine  a  river  falling  over  a  series  of  steep  rapids — 
down,  down  it  goes,  terrace  after  terrace  ;  only  instead  of  being  simple  terraces 
they  are  hollowed  into  basins,  of  different  sizes,  giving  to  the  terraces  a  very 
irregular  appearance.  The  water  comes  from  an  almost  innumerable  number  of 
hot  springs — thousands  of  them — which  form  themselves  into  a  stream,  and  then 
rush  over  the  declivity  in  the  manner  shown  in  the  picture.  When  the  water  issues 

from  the  springs  it  is  very  hot.      It  fills  the  little  reservoirs  on  the  terraces,  and  in 

84 


TOWER   CREEK,    BELOW  THE   FALLS. 


86 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America 


each  leaves,  of  course,  a  residuum  of  lime  or  silica.  As  you  look  at  this  cataract 
from  a  distance,  it  gives  you  the  idea  of  an  irregular  white  wall.  It  looks,  indeed, 
like  a  mass  of  snow  and  ice.  Columns  of  steam  rise  up  from  it  here  and  there,  and 
towards  the  foot  of  the  declivity  the  water  becomes  cool  enough  for  people  to  bathe 
in  it.  Those  basins  into  which  the  water  no  longer  flows 
are  crumbling  away  into  a  calcareous  powder  ;  but  where 
the  water  still  flows,  the  rims  of  the  basins  are  con- 
stantly replenished  with  wavy,  frill-like  borders  of  all 
kinds  of  vivid  colors. 


There    are  evidences    of    many 


TOWER    FALLS    AND    COLUMN    MOUNTAINS. 


hot  springs  which  have  stopped  flowing,  and  it  is  supposed  that  there  is  a  gradual 
diminution  of  the  volume  of  water  falling  over  these  terraces. 

KATE  :  How  large  are  these  basins  ? 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  Averaging  perhaps  five  or  six  feet  in  diameter  and  two  or  three 
feet  in  depth.  The  total  depth  of  the  descent  is  about  two  hundred  feet.  There 
are  some  larger  basins  on  the  top  of  the  terrace,  one  of  forty  feet  in  diameter,  and 
twenty-five  feet  deep.  The  white  appearance  of  the  cascade  suggested  the  name  of 


The  Rocky  Mountains,   Yellowstone  Park,  Etc. 


"  White  Mountain   Hot  Springs  "  to  this  locality.     I  believe  a  good  many  people 
visit  the  Parks  for  the  purpose  of  bathing  in  these  springs  for  purposes  of  health. 


BERTRAM:  What 
causes  the  vivid  color- 
ing you  speak  of  on 
the  rims  of  these 
basins  ? 

MRS.  VICTOR:  That 
I  do  not  know. 

THE  PRESIDENT  : 
It  is  due  to  the  chemi- 
cal properties  of  the 
water  and  the  action 
of  the  atmosphere.  Prof.  Hayden  says  that  as  the  water  flows  along  the  val- 
ley it  lays  down  in  its  course  a  pavement  more  beautiful  and  elaborate  in  its  adorn- 
ment than  art  has  ever  yet  conceived.  The  sulphur  and  the  iron,  with  the  green 


HOT    SPRINGS. 


88  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

microscopic  vegetations,  tint  the  whole  with  an  illumination  of  which  no  decorative 
painter  has  ever  dreamed. 

MRS.  VICTOR:  But  I  must  now  show  you  the  Geysers. 

KATE  :  What  is  the  origin  of  that  word  ? 

LAURA  :  The  dictionary  will  tell  you  that,  Kate.  Icelandic,  geysa,  to  burst  forth 
violently.  You  know  that  these  peculiar  fountains  were  first  discovered  in  Iceland. 
But  I  would  like  you  to  tell  me  what  causes  the  hot  water  to  burst  out  of  these 
springs. 

KATE  :  I  am  afraid  I  must  plead  ignorance. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  think  Bertram  has  been  reading  on  this  subject.  Perhaps 
he  will  tell  us  all  about  it. 

BERTRAM  :  I  do  not  know  that  I  quite  understand  what  little  I  have  read,  but 
I  suppose  that  in  some  way  these  deep  and  large  springs  or  underground  reser- 
voirs of  water  become  heated — by  volcanic  heat,  whatever  that  is — and  that  the 
steam  forces  itself  into  the  tube  connecting  them  with  the  surface,  where  the  water 
of  course  is  cooler.  The  steam  is  condensed,  but  the  water  in  the  tube  increases 
in  temperature,  and  is  raised  higher  and  higher  by  successive  pressures  of  the  steam 
below,  until  the  water  in  the  basin  ceases  to  act  as  a  condenser,  and  the  steam  and 
boiling  water  are  forced  up  through  the  tube,  as  they  are  out  of  the  spout  and  lid 
of  a  kettle,  until  the  reservoir  is  exhausted  for  the  time  being — until  as  we  may 
say,  the  water  has  all  boiled  away.  Then  the  springs  gradually  refill,  and  the  pro- 
cess is  repeated. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Very  well  explained,  I  think ;  and  I  may  add  that  the  reason 
all  the  hot  springs  are  not  geysers  is  that  they  do  not  all  happen  to  build  up  by 
their  deposits  a  vertical  tube  high  enough  to  hold  a  column  of  water  to  keep  these 
boiling  springs  in  check  until  they  have  accumulated  sufficient  force  to  make  a  vio- 
lent demonstration.  The  nature  of  the  soil,  therefore,  in  which  these  springs  occur 
may  have  something  to  do  with  the  matter. 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  Whatever  the  cause  or  theory,  the  effect  is  astounding,  for  a 
district  of  twenty  or  thirty  square  miles  is  pretty  thickly  covered  with  these  gey- 
sers, large  and  small  ;  and  what  with  the  springs  themselves  boiling  and  bubbling 
and  bursting  out  in  this  peculiar  way  at  intervals,  together  with  the  weird  aspect  of 
the  ground,  covered  with  silicious  and  calcareous  deposits,  and  the  crater-like 


THE   GIANTESS   GEYSER. 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


mounds  of  all  sizes,  one  feels,  indeed  in  a  land  of  marvels.  Some  of  them  send  up 
volumes  of  water  over  two  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  with  steam  a  thousand  feet 
high,  the  irruption  lasting  several  minutes.  Here  is  the  Giantess  Geyser  and 
some  others,  surprising  a  party  of  visitors,  who  I  must  say  look  anything  but  dig- 
nified. 

LAURA  :  I  suppose  there  is  a  Giant  Geyser,  as  this  is  a  Giantess. 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  Oh  yes  !  And  it  has  been  known  to  be  in  irruption  for  three 
hours  at  a  time,  but  its  volume  of  water  is  not  so  high  nor  so  beautiful  as  the  Giant- 
ess. Then  there  is  the  Grand  Geyser,  the  Castle  Geyser,  the  Old  Faithful  Gey- 


GROTTO   GEYSER. 


ser,  so  called  because  of  the  regularity  of  its  outbursts,  about  once  every  hour,  the 
Turban  Geyser,  and  hosts  of  others  ;  making  this  district  of  the  Yellowstone  Park 
the  most  wonderful  in  the  world  for  this  kind  of  natural  phenomena.  Here  is  a 
small  view  of  the  Grotto  Geyser  with  a  dome-like  crater  and  numerous  apertures. 
THE  PRESIDENT  :  Of  the  Castle  Geyser,  Professor  Hayden  writes  :  "  It  is  the 
most  imposing  geyser  formation  in  the  valley,  and  receives  its  name  from  its  resem- 
blance to  the  ruins  of  a  fortress.  The  deposited  silver  has  crystallized  in  immense 
globular  masses,  like  spongiform  corals.  The  mound  is  forty  feet  high,  and  the 


The  Rocky  Mountains,   Yellowstone  Park,  Etc. 


lower  portion  rises  in  steps."  Speaking  of  the  prismatic  coloring  of  the  water  he 
says  :  "  About  the  middle  of  the  day,  when  the  bright  rays  descend  nearly  verti- 
cally, and  a  slight  breeze  makes  just  a  ripple  on  the  surface,  the  colors  exceed  com- 
parison ;  when  the  surface  is  calm  there  is  one  vast  chaos  of  colors,  dancing,  as  it 
were,  like  the  colors  of  a  kaleidoscope.  As  seen  through  this  marvelous  play  of 
colors,  the  decorations  on  the  sides  of  the  basin  are  lighted  up  with  a  wild,  weird 
beauty,  which  wafts  one  at  once  into  the  land  of  enchantment :  all  the  brilliant 
feats  of  fairies  and  genii  in  the  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments  are  forgotten  in 


CASTLE    GEYSKR    AND    FIRE   BASIN. 


the  actual  presence  of  such  marvelous  beauty  ;  life  becomes  a  privilege  and  a  bless- 
ing after  one  has  seen  and  felt  its  cunning  skill." 

MRS.  MERRIMAN  :  I  think  I  shall  move  that  when  we  adjourn  for  the  season 
we  do  so  to  meet  next  August  in  the  Park  of  the  Yellowstone. 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  I  was  going  to  say  that  all  this  volcanic  energy  so  near  the 
surface  is  suggestive  of  earthquakes,  which  occasionally  take  place  in  this 
region. 

KATE  :  Then  I  object.      I  had  rather  do  my  sight-seeing  in  this  way. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  People  on  the  Pacific  coast,  which  is  occasionally  visited  by 
earthquakes,  do  not  dread  them  more  than  the  people  in  the  Eastern  States  dread 
thunder-storms,  nor  do  I  think  they  do  nearly  so  much  damage. 


92  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  sometimes  think  that  it  is  a  mercy  we  are  not  left  to 
live  and  die  without  some  evidences  of  the  mighty  and  awful  forces  in  the 
universe. 

MRS.  WARLIKE  :  They  make  us  feel  our  insignificance  and  powerlessness,  and 
perhaps  they  turn  us  in  thought  towards  the  great  Father  for  forgiveness  and 
mercy. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  And  yet  man  alone  of  all  created  things  on  this  globe  is  gifted 
with  the  power  of  scientific  research,  even  as  he  is  with  the  faculty  of  discerning 
between  good  and  evil.  We  can  feel  the  deep  significance  of  the  psalmist's 
words  :  "  Lord  what  is  man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him,  and  the  son  of  man  that 
thou  visitest  him  ?  For  thou  hast  made  him  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  ;  and 
hast  crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor.  Thou  makest  him  to  have  dominion  over 
the  works  of  thy  hand  ;  thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet." 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Undoubtedly,  man  is  a  creature  of  mingled  strength  and  weak- 
ness, and  if  he  alone  in  the  universe  were  capable  of  rising  in  thought  and  feeling 
above  the  finite,  then  were  his  position  sad  indeed.  But  if  these  mighty  forces  in 
nature  are  the  works  of  an  infinitely  wise,  holy,  and  gracious  Being,  the  devout 
and  humble-minded  have  every  ground  for  hope  and  confidence  in  the  tendency  of 
things.  As  Scripture  has  been  quoted  I  would  again  remind  you  of  a  passage 
from  the  Sacred  Word,  which  always  speaks  eloquently  to  me,  though  it  occurs  in  a 
sort  of  parenthesis  (i  Cor.  8:5).  "  For  though  there  be  that  are  called  God,  whether 
in  heaven  or  on  earth  ;  as  there  are  gods  many  and  lords  many  ;  yet  to  us  there  is 
one  God,  the  Father,  of  whom  are  all  things,  and  we  unto  Him;  and  one  Lord, 
Jesus  Christ,  through  whom  are  all  things,  and  we  unto  Him." 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  I  have  reached  almost  the  end  of  my  notes  and  sketches,  though 
I  confess  that  I  have  not  exhausted  one-quarter  of  even  the  imperfect  materials  at 
my  command.  But  there  are  many  other  noteworthy  places  for  us  to  see,  and  too 
much  time  must  not  be  given  to  any  one  of  them.  Here  in  these  vast  regions  of 
mountain,  forest,  and  desert,  we  seem  to  draw  very  close  to  the  mysterious  and  aw- 
ful powers  of  the  universe.  It  is  not  all  mere  beauty  in  these  mighty  wilds,  but 
beauty  combined  with  awe-inspiring  grandeur.  How  appropriate  the  thought  of 
Milton,  that  much-neglected  though  always-praised  poet,  in  the  lines  familiar  to 
some  of  us  from  childhood  : 


THE   FALLS   OF   SNAKE   RIVER. 


94  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

"  These  are  thy  glorious  works,  Parent  of  good, 
Almighty,  thine  this  universal  frame, 
Thus  wondrous  fair  ;  Thyself  how  wondrous  then  ! 
Unspeakable,  who  sitt'st  above  these  heavens 
To  us  invisible,  or  dimly  seen 
In  these  thy  lowest  works  ;  yet  these  declare 
Thy  goodness  beyond  thought,  and  power  divine." 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  think  you  have  another  sketch  in  your  portfolio. 

MRS.  VICTOR  :  I  had  almost  forgotten.  Before  we  leave  this  upper  Rocky 
Mountain  region,  or  rather  while  we  are  upon  the  wing,  I  want  you  to  accompany 
me  for  an  aerial  trip  of  a  few  minutes  to  a  magnificent  scene  on  the  Snake  River. 
The  Shoshone  Falls  in  Idaho  are  amphitheatrical  in  appearance.  The  Snake  River 
here  runs  through  a  long  and  deep  canon  formed  by  the  action  of  its  waters  upon 
basaltic  rocks.  The  falls  are  nearly  a  mile  in  width,  and  the  adjacent  rocks  seven 
or  eight  hundred  feet  high.  The  descent  of  the  main  fall  is  about  400  feet,  and 
below  the  cataract  the  sid2s  of  the  canon  rise  to  a  height  of  a  thousand  feet  or 
more.  Besides  the  Shoshone  Falls  there  are  other  fine  cataracts.  The  illustration 
gives  a  capital  view  of  this  weird  spot. 


CHAPTER   X. 


THE    PLAINS    AND    PRAIRIES. 

(HE  Fourth  Conversational  Tour  of  the  J.  U.  T.  C.  was  held  at  the 
house  of  Colonel  Warlike. 

The  Minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 
Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  write  out,  at  her  convenience,  and 
from  her  notes  of  the  conversations,  a  full  report  of  each  meeting, 
and  that  the  same  be  revised  by  the  President,  with  a  view  to  pub- 
lication in  a  book  form. 

The  conversation  was  begun  by  Colonel  Warlike. 

I  am  afraid,  said  the  gaMant  Colonel,  that  I  am  not  a  very  good  hand  at  talk- 
ing ;  but  if  the  Club  thinks  that  I  can  contribute  in  any  way  to  its  entertainment,  I 
am  willing  to  do  my  best. 

Of  course,  you  cannot  expect  that  I  can  entertain  you  with  many  pictures  of 
romantic  scenery.  The  prairies  and  the  plains  of  America  do  not  present  many 
striking  objects  for  the  artist's  pencil ;  but  in  their  vast  extent  they  give  one  an 
idea  of  immensity  from  quite  a  different  standpoint  from  the  mountains.  The 
prairies  were  at  one  time,  not  so  long  ago,  the  frontier  lands.  They  lie  between 
Ohio  and  Michigan,  on  the  east,  and  the  foot  hills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but 
they  do  not,  as  you  know,  comprise  the  whole  of  this  vast  region.  The  western 
part  of  Ohio  has  some  prairie  lands,  so  has  Michigan  towards  the  south.  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  the  northern  part  of  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Nebraska, 
Dakota  and  Texas,  are  essentially  prairie  States  ;  but  the  more  easterly  of  these 
are  well  settled,  and  cultivated  farms  have  taken  the  place  of  the  wild  lands  once 
roamed  by  the  buffalo  and  the  savage  Indian.  Here  is  a  view  of  what  were  once 
rolling  prairie  lands  in  Kansas.  The  scenery  is  diversified  by  trees,  following  the 
course  of  the  river  streams,  but  as  you  proceed  farther  west  the  trees  disappear, 
except  in  the  ravines,  and  on  a  few  bluffs  and  ridges.  Nothing  but  tall,  rank, 

95 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


prairie  grass,  waving  in  the  breeze,  greets  the  eye  of  the  traveler,  during  the  sum- 
mer months,  for  many  a  day's  journey. 

LILIAN  :  I  understand  that  beautiful  flowers  grow  on  the  prairie. 

COLONEL  WARLIKE  :  Oh  yes  ;  daisies,  sunflowers,  dandelions,  and  many  others 
commonly  to  be  met  with  in  good  dry  grass  lands,  are  here  in  abundance.  Of 
course,  you  have  all  found  out,  if  you  did  not  know  already,  that  the  word  prairie 
is  French  for  meadow.  American  nomenclature  is  essentially  cosmopolitan.  The 


VALLEY   OF   KANSAS   RIVER. 


different  nations  of  the  Old  World  send  us  not  only  their  sons  and  daughters,  but 
also  portions  of  their  vocabularies. 

GILBERT  :  And,  of  course,  we  give  an  enlarged  scope  for  every  word  we  so 
appropriate.  Our  prairies  are  very  large  meadows,  indeed,  and  must  have  been 
thought  so  by  the  early  settlers. 

ALBERT  :  What  is  the  comparative  elevation  of  prairie  lands  ? 

THE  COLONEL  :  I  must  here  refer  to  the  President  for  information. 


The  Plains  and  Prairies.  97 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Their  altitude  varies,  of  course,  very  considerably.  Lilian, 
you  were  copying  some  figures  from  The  American  Cyclopaedia.  Have  you  your 
notes  with  you  ? 

LILIAN  :  Yes,  papa.  "  Near  Prairie  du  Chien,  in  West  Wisconsin,  the  eleva~ 
tion  of  the  prairies  is  about  400  feet  above  the  Mississippi.  At  Cairo,  in  South 
Illinois,  the  upper  surface  is  from  100  to  250  feet  above  the  river,  or  400  to  550 
feet  above  the  sea.  In  the  central  portion  of  the  State,  near  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad,  the  average  elevation  is  from  650  feet  to  750  feet  above  the  sea,  and 
near  the  northern  border  of  the  State  this  increases  to  800  or  900  feet,  and  some 
of  the  highest  swells  of  the  prairie  are  1,000  feet  high.  In  South  Wisconsin  the 
more  elevated  portions  of  the  prairie  are  about  1,100  feet  above  tide  water.  In 
Iowa  the  plateau  du  coteau  des  prairies  of  Nicollet,  dividing  the  waters  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi from  those  of  the  Missouri,  is  from  1,400  to  1,500  feet  above  the  sea.'* 
The  article  goes  on  to  say,  of  the  general  character  of  the  prairie  surface  :  "  On 
the  head  waters  of  the  Illinois  and  Wabash,  and  south  and  west  of  Lake  Michigan, 
the  prairies  are  very  level  and  smooth,  and  are  termed  flat.  Those  of  other 
regions,  where  the  surface  is  undulating,  and  broken  by  the  depressions  of  the 
streams,  are  known  as  rolling  prairies." 

CLARA  :  Has  any  estimate  been  made  of  the  extent  of  .prairie  lands  in,  say, 
square  miles  ? 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  The  Professor  will  correct  me  if  I  am  wrong  ;  but  I  have  some- 
where seen  it  stated  that  the  prairies  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  embrace  a  ter- 
ritory of  a  thousand  miles  square,  which  would  give  a  million  square  miles. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  am  not  aware  that  any  serious  attempt  has  been  made  as 
yet  to  measure  the  prairies,  but  the  territory  embraced  in  the  geographical  divisions 
of  the  continent  generally  designated  as  prairie  land,  and  without  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  plains  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  cannot  be  much  less  than  men- 
tioned by  Mr.  Goldust. 

GRACE  :  Why  are  there  no  trees  on  the  prairies  ? 

THE  COLONEL  :  I  must  again  appeal  to  the  President. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  do  not  know  that  the  question  has  ever  been  quite  satisfac- 
torily answered.  As  a  matter  of  fact  some  portions  of  prairie  lands  are  by  no 
means  utterly  destitute  of  trees.  They  are  met  with  along  some  of  the  streams, 


98  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

or  bottoms,  and  occasionally  elsewhere.  In  the  settled  parts  of  the  prairies 
immense  numbers  of  trees  have  been  planted.  In  Iowa  especially,  which  is  a  prai- 
rie State,  great  attention  has  been  given  to  this  branch  of  agriculture,  and  many 
millions  of  trees  now  exist  and  flourish.  But,  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  prairies  as  treeless  holds  good  in  the  main,  and  the  culture  of  timber 
taxes  the  ingenuity  and  tries  the  patience  of  those  who  attempt  it.  Soil  and  cli- 
mate, of  course,  are  the  two  essential  conditions  one  naturally  looks  to  as  deter- 
mining the  flora  of  any  country.  Some  think  that  the  soil,  and  some  think  that 
the  climate  is  taxable  with  this  peculiarity  of  the  prairie,  and  probably  both  have 
something  to  do  with  it.  In  certain  parts  of  England  there  are  extensive  tracts  of 
downs  where  you  see  nothing  in  the  shape  of  a  tree  for  miles,  and  yet  bordering 
the  downs  are  luxuriant  woods  and  leafy  lanes.  Take  the  County  of  Sussex,  for 
•example.  The  ranges  of  chalk  hills  to  the  south,  known  as  the  Sussex  Downs,  and 
on  which  the  finest  mutton  in  the  world  is  fed,  are  treeless,  and  they  are  covered 
with  a  peculiarly  sweet  and  nutritious  grass  and  abundance  of  wild  thyme.  But 
Sussex,  as  a  whole,  is  richly  wooded.  So  that  climate,  here,  would  seem  to  have 
less  to  do  with  the  subject  than  soil.  Some  think  that  .the  comparatively  small 
rainfall  over  the  prairie  region  is  the  chief  cause  of  the  absence  of  trees.  The 
high  ridges  and  peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  attract  the  clouds,  leaving  the 
plains  comparatively  rainless  ;  again,  the  prevailing  westerly  winds  carry  the  mois- 
ture rising  from  the  gulf  in  'an  easterly  direction,  till  it  strikes  the  great  Appa- 
lachian range  of  the  Atlantic  coast.  We  must,  however,  bear  in  mind  the  charac- 
ter of  the  soil  of  the  prairies,  including  the  surface  soil  and  the  underlying  strata. 
Professor  James  Hall,  a  very  high  authority,  thinks  that  this  alone  is  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  prairies  being  treeless,  the  underlying  rocks  being  mostly  what  is 
known  in  geology  as  shale,  or  consisting  of  slaty  fragments.  The  surface  soil  is 
generally  rich  vegetable  mould,  from  one  or  two  feet  deep,  in  the  elevated  parts, 
to  one  or  two  hundred  feet  deep  in  the  rich  bottom  lands.  Forest  trees  would 
seem  to  delight  in  a  subsoil  of  a  decided  character,  limestone  rock,  or  well-defined 
clays  or  gravel.  Mere  richness  of  vegetable  mould  will  not  sustain  oaks,  elms, 
pine,  or  maple.  Put  both  these  causes  together  and  we  have  probably  about  the 
•  truth  of  the  matter. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  If  the  Colonel  will  allow  me,  I  will  read  a  portion  of  a  letter  I 


The  Plains  and  Prairies. 


99 


have  seen  from  a  friend  of  mine  who  had  the  courage  to  settle  with  her  husband 
and  daughter  in  Nebraska.  The  letter  says  :  "  We  are  about  eight  miles  west  of 
the  junction  of  the  Sappa  and  Beaver  creeks,  on  high,  rolling  prairie  land.  The 
atmosphere  is  remarkably  clear.  We  have  been  able  to  get  wood  for  firing  and 
for  building  on  the  Beaver  Creek,  which  is  three  miles  north  of  us.  On  these 
prairies  the  regulation  house  is  built  of  sod,  and  I  can  assure  you  is  very  warm 
and  comfortable,  as  well  as  neat  and  good-looking,  according  to  the  taste  of  the 
inmates.  They  remind  me  of  the  houses  of  the  farmers  in  some  parts  of  Scot- 
land— walls  about  three  feet  thick  (though  in  Scotland  the  material  is  granite). 
The  Indians  hunted  this  re- 
gion, but  it  is  three  years  since 
the  buffalo  left,  though  there 
are  plenty  of  tracks  and 
bleached  bones. 

"  We  have  had  one  good 
sight  of  the  mirage  of  the 
plains,  when  there  appear  to 
be  splendid  lakes,  bordered 
by  groves  of  trees,  the  waves 
rolling  as  with  real  water.  I 
assure  you  the  illusion  is  com- 
plete. The  only  trees  here 
are  along  the  courses  of  the 
rivers  ;  but  as  all  available  land  is  being  rapidly  taken,  and  a  good  deal  of  it  is  in 
timber  claims,  it  will  not  be  long  before  there  will  be  groves  on  all  hands.  There 
are  evidences,  where  the  prairie  has  not  been  on  fire  for  some  time,  of  young 
timber." 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  That  suggests  a  third  cause  to  be  considered  in  relation  to 
the  treeless  condition  of  the  prairies — prairie  fires ;  the  long,  dry  grass  of  these 
regions  being  peculiarly  susceptible  to  fires. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  The  letter  from  which  I  am  reading  goes  on  to  say :  "  One 
Sunday,  coming  from  church,  we  saw  a  prairie  fire,  spreading  rapidly  under  press- 
ure of  a  strong  south  wind.  We  felt  safe,  as  there  was  a  good  '  fire-break '  all 


BUFFALO    HUNTING. 


IOO 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


round  our  premises — that  ,is,  land  ploughed,  so  that  there  is  nothing  for  the  fire 
to  catch.  But  after  dinner,  to  make  doubly  sure,  we  started  another  fire  against 
the  wind,  and  then  took  in  the  full  grandeur  of  the  scene  all  the  evening,  and  went 
to  bed  with  the  waves  of  fire  rolling  all  round,  feeling  far  more  secure  than,  under 
similar  circumstances,  we  should  have  done  in  any  city." 

THE   COLONEL  :    I   am  much  obliged  to  you,  and  I  am   sure   the  Club  is,  for 


SIOUX   INDIANS. 


furnishing  so  appropriate   a  contribution.     And  now,  perhaps,  you  are  expecting 
from  me  some  of  my  personal  experiences  in  the  great  prairie  region. 

JOHN  :  Pardon  me  for  interrupting  at  this  point,  but  I  am  curious  about  the 
distinction  which  is  usually  drawn  between  the  plains  and  the  prairies.  What  is 
the  difference  ? 


The  Plains  and  Prairies. 


101 


THE  COLONEL  :  In  a  military  sense  I  think  that  the  word  plains  as  distin- 
guished from  prairies  is  that  portion  of  the  treeless,  or  nearly  treeless,  territory 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  more  or  less  infested,  until  quite  recently,  by  preda- 
tory Indians,  whereas  the  prairies  are  more  under  cultivation,  and  free  from  Indian 
raids.  The  prairies  lie  to  the  east  and  the  plains  to  the  west  of,  say,  the  meridian 
of  Leavenworth.  The  farther  west  you  go  from  this  line  the  more  Indians  you 
see,  and  the  more  wild  and  uninclosed  the  country ;  but,  of  course,  the  prairies 
are  encroaching  on  the  plains  all  the 
while. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  Civilization  is 
"  marching  on." 

THE  COLONEL  :  Here  are  some 
groups  of  Indians — a  party  of  four 
Sioux,  some  Utes  and  others.  They 
are  dressed  in  their  best  clothes,  and 
do  not  look  the  terrible  savages  that 

J5«.^MWifeF^-.s 

TF 


they  really  are.  Contrast  their  peace- 
ful appearance  with  the  Indian  flour- 
ishing a  scalp,  and  you  will  not  won- 
der that  they  are  the  dread  of  front- 
iersmen and  their  families,  and  foemen 
worthy  of  the  steel  of  the  bravest  and 
best  of  our  soldiers.  Fighting  them 
is  no  mere  pastime,  I  assure  you. 

We  have  heard  of  the  Beaver  Creek 
in  Nebraska.  It  is  now,  I  believe,  the 
center  of  a  district  rapidly  filling  up  ;  but  the  last  and  only  time  I  passed  through 
it  was  in  the  spring  of  1869.  I  'was  then  a  junior  officer  in  the  Seventh  Cavalry 
Regiment,  of  which  General  Custer  was  colonel,  and  our  regiment  formed  part  of 
General  Hancock's  expedition  against  the  Cheyennes  and  Sioux,  who  were  already 
on  the  warpath,  and  had  committed  many  acts  of  spoliage  and  murder.  Of  course 
you  will  not  expect  me  to  give  you  the  details  of  this  expedition.  It  was  my  first 
experience  with  the  savages.  On  one  occasion  I  accompanied  a  squadron  of  my 


SNAKE  INDIANS   FROM   UTAH. 


IO2 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


regiment  as  an  escort  of  a  train  of  wagons  which  our  commanding  officer  had 
dispatched  for  supplies  to  Fort  Wallace.  We  were  to  halt  about  midway  down 
Beaver  Creek,  when  our  squadron  was  to  divide,  one  company  proceeding  with  the 
escort,  and  the  other  scouting  up  and  down  Beaver  Creek  till  their  return.  I 

must,  therefore,  have  been  very  near  the  spot  from 
which  the  lady  wrote  the  letter  which  has  been 
read  to  us. 

ALBERT  :  Did  you  go  with  the  wagons  or  re- 
main in  Beaver  Creek  ? 

THE  COLONEL  :  It  fell  to  my  lot  to  remain  at 
Beaver  Creek,  but  on  the  second  morning  after 
the  wagon  train  had  left  us  we  were  greatly  sur- 
prised by  the  arrival  of  another  full  squadron  of 
cavalry  bearing  orders  to  our  captain  to  join  forces 
and  proceed  with  all  dispatch  towards  Fort 
Wallace,  distant  about  fifty  miles,  until  we  met 
the  returning  wagon  train,  as  it  was  suspected  that 
the  Indians  were  intending  to  attack  and  capture 
the  train.  Accordingly  we  started  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  fortunately  met  the  train  about 
midway.  The  train,  which  was  escorted  by  only 
about  fifty  soldiers,  had  been  attacked  by  a  force 
of  several  hundred  Indians,  and  had  had  a  sort 
of  running  fight  for  hours.  Nothing  but  excellent 
tactics  and  judgment  could  have  enabled  our  men 

to  bear  the  brunt  of  such  an  attack,  but  they  did,  and  killed  several  Indians,  who 
were  evidently  hoping  that  our  men  would  exhaust  their  ammunition,  and  then  all 
would  have  been  over  with  them.  But  in  the  very  crisis  of  the  battle  the  Indian 
scouts  saw  our  troops,  far  away  in  the  distance,  galloping  towards  the  scene,  and 
they  thought  it  prudent  to  retire  for  the  time. 

CYRIL  :  How  did  the  Indians  fight  ?     Did  they  use  rifles? 

THE  COLONEL  :  They  had  excellent  rifles  and  fleet  ponies  as  usual.     Their  plan 
was  to  circle  round  the  train,  firing  from  the  sides  of  their  ponies,  at  full  gallop. 


104 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


They  are  wonderful  adepts  at  this.  But  our  men  formed  the  wagons  two  abreast, 
with  the  horses  between  the  columns,  one  trooper  having  charge  of  four  horses. 
The  other  men  on  foot  formed  a  guard  round  the  moving  wagons,  and,  as  soon  as 
any  of  the  boys  could  get  a  shot  at  an  Indian  as  he  flew  past,  he  fired.  In  this  way 

the  whole  train  kept  mov- 
ing along  while  defending 
itself. 

JOHN  :  Were  any  of 
our  men  killed  ? 

THE  COLONEL  :  I  think 
not  in  that  engagement ; 
but  unfortunately  a  few 
days  after,  a  lieutenant  of 
cavalry  and  ten  men,  bear- 
ing despatches  to  our 
Colonel,  were  attacked  by 
Indians,  and  after  a  des- 
perate struggle  were  mas- 
sacred to  a  man.  We  found 
the  bodjes  brutally  dis- 
figured at  Beaver  Creek, 
and  buried  them. 

BERTRAM  :  Pray  go 
on,  Colonel,  with  your  ad- 
ventures. 

THE  COLONEL  :  I  must 
not  do  any  such  thing,  or  I 
should  not  know  when  to  stop.  I  have  here  a  few  more  illustrations,  with  which 
I  hope  you  will  allow  me  honorably  to  retire  from  my  command.  Here  is  a 
portrait  of  General  Philip  Sheridan,  commander  of  the  department  of  the  Missouri 
during  most  of  my  term  of  service.  I  need  not  say  that  the  General  has  had  a  most 
eventful  and  brilliant  career  as  a  soldier,  and  fully  deserves  the  confidence  and 
affection  in  which  he  is  held  by  both  the  army  and  the  nation  at  large.  Here  is  a 


INDIAN    WITH    SCALP. 


THE   WAPITI. 


io6 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


picture  showing  an  interview  or  great  council  between  Indian  chiefs  and  a  Com- 
mission from  Washington.  It  is  a  good  and  characteristic  sketch  of  one  of  these 
famous  pow-wows. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  suppose  that  the  Indian  question  will  never  seriously  inter- 
est any  but  a  small  proportion  of  our  people  ;  otherwise  we  might  even  yet  hope 
to  see  the  Indian  department  creditably  managed. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  I  do  not  despair  altogether  of  the  future  of  the  race,  although 
there  are  many  gloomy  aspects  of  the  question.  The  Church  of  Christ  is  grap- 
pling with  the  difficulty  with  more 
earnestness  than  ever.  It  is  demon- 
strated, beyond  doubt,  that  the  Indian 
is  capable  of  civilization,  and  I  am  glad 
to  see  that  our  government  is  encourag- 
ing and  aiding  the  establishment  of 
schools  in  the  various  tribes,  with  very 
gratifying  results. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  hope  it  will  not 
be  long  before  Indian  citizenship  will 
be  fully  recognized. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  I  believe  that  some 
of  the  wisest  and  most  philanthropic  men 
and  women  of  our  country  are  devot- 
ing their  lives  to  the  study  of  this  great 
question,  and  it  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped 
that  the  next  decade  or  two  will  witness 
the  dawn  of  a  better  state  of  things — a 
more  enlightened  and  creditable  administration  of  the  department,  and  a  greater 
tendency  to  peaceful  pursuits  on  the  part  of  the  Indians. 

THE  COLONEL  :  I  sincerely  hope  it  may,  but  the  Indian  is  a  hard  puzzle  at  best, 
though  I  admit  that  he  has  'been  used  very  badly.  Miss  Laura,  you  can  give  us 
some  stanzas  of  Bryant's  Soliloquy  of  an  Indian  at  the  burying  place  of  his 
fathers. 

LAURA  :  You  mean  that  piece  beginning  : 


GENERAL    SHERIDAN. 


The  Plains  and  Prairies.  107 

"It  is  the  spot  I  came  to  seek, 

My  fathers'  ancient  burial  place, 
Ere  from  these  vales,  ashamed  and  weak, 
Withdrew  our  wasted  race." 

It  is  too  long  to  quote.      I   remember  the  verse — 

"  They  waste  us — ay — like  April  snow 

In  the  warm  noon,  we  shrink  away  ; 
And  fast  they  follow,  as  we  go 

Towards  the  setting  day, 
Till  they  shall  fill  the  land,  and  we 
Are  driven  into  the  western  sea." 

THE  COLONEL  :  And  now  to  change  the  topic,  and  before  we  leave  the  plains, 
let  me  show  you  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  famous  Wapiti  deer  (Cervus  Canadensis), 
native  of  the  Northern  States,  and  found  most  abundantly  on  the  upper  Missouri  and 
Yellowstone  rivers.  Sometimes  it  is  called  the  elk,  though  improperly,  as  the  true 
American  Elk  is  what  is  called  the  moose  (Alces  Americanus},  found  in  Maine, 
eastern  Canada,  Labrador,  etc.  The  Wapiti  is  by  far  the  nobler-looking  animal 
of  the  two. 


CHAPTER     XI. 

MOUNTAIN    SCENERY    IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 

HE  next  meeting  of  the  J.  U.Tl  C.  was  held  at  the  house  of  Mr.  John 
Smith,  and  after  the  transaction  of  the  usual  preliminary  business, 
which  occupied  only  a  few  minutes,  the  Conversational  Tour  of  the 
evening  was  begun  by  the  President  calling  upon  Mr.  John  Smith 
first  to  lead  the  club  through  some  of  the  mountain  and  river  scenery 
of  Pennsylvania. 

JOHN  (reading  from  MS.}  :  The  Alleghany  Mountains  form  a  part  of  the 
great  Appalachian  chain,  extending  from  the  St.  Lawrence  River  on  the  north,  to 
Alabama  in  the  south.  The  general  direction  of  these  mountains  is  from  northeast 
to  southwest,  and  they  constitute  the  great  easterly  ridge  of  the  northern  con- 
tinent. 

Sometimes  the  whole  range  is  generally  spoken  of  by  this  title  "  Alleghany," 
the  meaning  of  which  is  "  endless  "-—Indian  origin,  of  course.  The  name  Appala- 
chian was  given  to  the  range  by  the  Spaniards  under  De  Soto,  who  probably  re- 
ceived it  from  the  Indians,  but  I  do  not  know  the  meaning  of  the  word.  The  total 
length  of  the  Appalachian  range  is  about  1,300  miles,  and  its  mean  width  about  100 
miles.  It  comprises  several  extensive  groups  of  mountains  better  known  by  their 
local  names,  such  as  the  White  Mountains  of  New  Hampshire,  the  Adirondacks, 
the  Catskills,  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson,  the  Cumberland,  the  Blue,  the  Black 
Mountains,  etc.,  and  the  entire  system  of  lateral  hills  and  spurs  of  this  eastern 
region  of  the  continent. 

The  highest  peaks  of  this  range  are  in  North  Carolina  and  in  New  Hampshire. 
In  the  former  State  the  Black  Mountains  rise  to  an  elevation  of  between  six  and 
seven  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  ;  and  Mount  Washington,  in  the  White  Mountains, 
has  an  altitude  of  6,288  feet. 

Geologically  this  mountain  range  is  highly  important.  Granitic  rocks  containing 
veins  of  magnetic  iron  ore,  limestone  rocks,  iron  and  coal  of  almost  limitless  ex- 

108 


no 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


tent,  together  with  copper,  lead,  gold,  silver  and  other  mineral  strata,  abound.  In 
some  parts  of  the  range  rock  salt  exists  in  abundance,  and  in  others  salt  is  ob- 
tained by  boring  artesian  wells,  and  evaporation. 

The   surface  of  these  hills  is  clothed  with  noble  forests,  and  the  valleys  are 


THE  JUNIATA. 


watered  by  ever-flowing  streams.      The  scenery  is   romantic,   and  in  many  parts 
full  of  grandeur. 

This  evening  we  will  visit  some  of  the  most  beautiful  places  along  the  Susque- 


ii2  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

hanna,  the  Juniata,  and  the  Connemaugh  Rivers,  in  Pennsylvania,  in  the  heart  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Alleghanies.  These  streams  flow  through  a  region  of  surpassing 
loveliness,  well  deserving  the  tribute  paid  to  it  by  the  late  Thomas  Buchanan 
Read: 

"  Fair  Pennsylvania  !  than  thy  midland  vales, 
Lying  'twixt  hills  of  green,  and  bound  afar 
By  billowy  mountains  rolling  in  the  blue, 
No  lovelier  landscape  meets  the  traveler's  eye." 

The  Juniata — the  names  of  all  these  rivers  are  Indian  in  their  origin,  and  some- 
what obscure  as  to  their  meaning — takes  its  rise  at  the  foot  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains  proper,  and  follows  a  winding  course,  in  an  easterly  direction,  for  over  a 
hundred  miles  to  its  junction  with  the  Susquehanna,  a  few  miles  above  Harris- 
burgh.  Comparatively  few  persons  are  acquainted  with  this  stream.  In  fact  the 
whole  of  this  region  is  worthy  of  far  more  attention  than  it  receives  from  the 
tourist. 

We  will  now  imagine  ourselves,  if  you  please,  at  the  romantic  village  of  Hun- 
tingdon, 203  miles  from  Philadelphia,  on  the  Harrisburgh  and  Pittsburgh  division 
of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad.  This  is  the  capital  of  the  county  of  the  same 
name — a  county  rich  in  agricultural  produce,  and  in  its  stores  of  minerals,  as  yet 
hardly  touched.  Here  we  get  many  fine  snatches  of  scenery. 

Here  is  a  very  graphic  picture  showing  a  railway  cut  through  one  of  the  charac- 
teristic slaty  ridges  of  the  country,  and  giving  a  beautiful  view  of  the  valley  and 
adjacent  hills.  Not  far  from  this  is  a  natural  curiosity  worth  turning  aside  to  see. 
A  little  tributary  of  the  Juniata,  called  Arched  Spring,  flows  for  one  mile  under 
ground.  Its  entrance  and  its  exit  are  shown  in  the  two  accompanying  illustrations. 
I  do  not  suppose  that  any  one  has  been  bold  enough  to  follow  this  little  stream 
through  this  one  dark  mile  of  its  course,  biit  you  see  that  it  comes  at  last  back 
again  to  the  sunlight,  and  sparkles  and  rejoices  on  its'  destined  way.  I  think  that  we 
may  draw  a  moral  from  this,  though,  in  the  dignified  presence  of  our  honorary  mem- 
bers, I  almost  feel  that  it  is  presumptuous  to  suggest  it. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  We  trust  that  the  dignity  of  the  honorary  members  will  not 
be  so  great  as  to  be  unduly  repressive  upon  the  juniors.  Pray  let  us  have  your  moral. 


Mountain  Scenery  in  Pennsylvania. 


JOHN  :  Simply  this,  that  darkness,  trial,  and  obscurity  in  a  human  life  must  not 
be  confounded  with  failure.  If  this  spring  in  the  mountains  never  issued  forth 
again  as  a  brooklet  to  be  seen  and  admired,  its  intrinsic  value  and,  probably,  its 


INLET    TO    SINKING    SPRING. 


uses  would  be  none  the  less  important  even  in  its  rocky  chambers  than  they  are   in 
the  light  of  day. 

KATE  :  Still  I  would  rather  have  a  little  sunlight  on  my  course  than  be  all  the 
time  in  darkness  and  obscurity. 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


JOHN  :  No  doubt ;  and  so  would  we  all.  And  because  that  is  so,  we  too  readily 
despond  or  misjudge  if  for  a  time  the  sunlight  is  withdrawn  from  us,  or  from  our 
neighbor. 

DR.   PAULUS  :  "  He  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth.  bearing  precious  seed,  shall 


OUTLET   TO   THE   SINKING   SPRING. 


doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him."     Thank  you 
for  your  moral,  John. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  am  reminded  of  Longfellow's  poem,  "The  Two  Rivers"  : 

"  O  River  of  yesterday,  with  current  swift, 
Through  chasms  descending,  and  soon  lost  to  sight, 
I  do  not  care  to  follow  in  their  flight, 
The  faded  leaves,  that  on  thy  bosom  drift  ! 


ii6  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

O  River  of  to-morrow,  I  uplift 
Mine  eyes  and  thee  I  follow,— 


sure  to  meet  the  sun, 
And  Confident  that  what  the  future  yields 
Will  be  the  right,  unless  myself  be  wrong." 

JOHN  :  We  will  now  descend  the  river  for  a  few  miles  till  we  come  to  Lewis- 
town.  All  around  us  as  we  journey  are  charming  and  picturesque  glens,  vales,  and 
water  courses. 

Here  the  train  passes  through  a  narrow  defile  or  gorge  called  Lewistown  Nar- 
rows, suggestive,  though  on  a  less  magnificent  scale,  of  the  canons  of  the  West. 

From  this  point  we  will  retrace  our  steps  and  travel  westward  for  a  few  score 
miles,  taking  an  air-line,  or  a  bee-line,  if  you  please,  to  Altoona,  a  large  city  of  over 
20,000  inhabitants,  built  up  within  the  past  thirty  years  as  the  site  of  the  machine 
shops  of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad.  This  city  lies  at  the  easterly  foot  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies  proper,  and  the  surrounding  scenery  is  grand  and  beautiful  beyond  ex- 
pression. The  railroad  here  ascends  by  a  very  steep  grade  towards  the  west,  re- 
quiring two  engines,  whereas  trains  coming  east  run  down  eleven  miles  without  one 
single  particle  of  steam  force — a  long  inclined  plane.  At  the  top  of  the  mountain 
there  is  a  tunnel  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  long,  after  which  the  line  descends 
the  western  slope  of  the  Alleghanies  towards  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  so  on  to 
Chicago  and  the  West.  Two  or  three  miles  west  of  the  tunnel,  and  on  the  di- 
viding ridge  of  the  mountains,  is  the  village  of  Cresson,  celebrated  for  its  mineral 
waters  and  for  its  cool,  breezy  atmosphere  during  the  summer.  It  is  a  delightful 
place  for  a  summer's  holiday.  And  now,  if  you  please,  we  will  take  a  glimpse  of 
the  scenery  in  this  locality,  and  farther  on  in  the  region  of  the  Connemaugh  and 
Kiskiminetas. 

GRACE  :  What  delightful  Indian  names  !  I  am  so  glad  they  have  not  changed 
them  into  prosaic  modern  names. 

JOHN  :  What  do  you  say  then  to  the  title  of  this  picture,  "  Kettle-Run,  Altoona  ?" 

It  is  a  sketch  of  a  lovely  and  romantic  forest  glade,  but  Altoona  sounds  to  me 
somewhat  Dutch-like,  and  as  for  Kettle-Run,  there  is  a  decidedly  Yankee  notion  in 
that  name,  or  I  am  very  much  mistaken. 


KETTLE-RUN,    ALTOONA. 


n8  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

ALBERT  :  I  suppose  Kettle-Run  is  the  name  of  the  brook. 

JOHN  :  Yes,  and  so  christened  from  a  remarkable  hollow  surrounded  by  hills, 
and  said  to  resemble  a  kettle,  through  which  it  flows.  There  is  a  curious  State  law 
which  forbids  the  cutting  of  timber  along  this  stream,  and  the  consequence  is  that 
its  banks  are  densely  wooded,  and  the  stream  itself  a  good  deal  obstructed  by 
falling  trees  and  moss-grown  logs  and  boulders. 

Our  next  view  is  a  very  fine  one  of  the  great  "  Horseshoe  Bend  "  in  the  rail- 
road, between,  I  think,  Altoona  and  Cresson.  A  great  many  engineering  difficul- 
ties had,  of  course,  to  be  overcome  in  the  construction  of  this  mountain  line.  Be- 
fore this  road  was  built  the  old  Portage  railroad  used  to  convey  the  trains  by  sec- 
tions up  and  down  inclined  planes,  but  now  there  is  no  break  in  the  journey,  al- 
though at  times  during  the  descent,  on  either  side,  the  traveler  cannot  avoid  a  feel- 
ing of  apprehension,  though  fortunately  accidents  hereabouts  are  extremely  rare, 
owing  to  the  great  precautions  observed. 

BERTRAM  :  Is  this  the  old  regular  beaten  track  from  east  to  west  ? 

JOHN  :  I  believe  it  was  the  direct  road  taken  from  the  earliest  times  by  the  im- 
migrants to  Ohio  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  route  lay  along  the  banks  of  the  Juniata,  and 
away  over  the  Alleghanies  at  this  point.  The  whole  of  this  region  and  far  out 
beyond,  among  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Pennsylvania,  .is  peopled  largely  by  the 
Dutch  and  their  descendants — a  thrifty,  old-time  race,  keeping  their  ancestral  faith 
and  customs,  and  not  permitting  the  outside  world,  by  reason  of  the  introduction 
of  the  steam  railroad  into  their  hills  and  valleys,  to  rob  them  of  their  heritage,  or 
to  seduce  them  with  its  vanities. 

LAURA  :  How  came  it  that  Pennsylvania  has  so  many  people  of  German  and 
Dutch  descent  in  it  ?  Penn  was  an  Englishman,  at  any  rate. 

JOHN  :  I  think  I  must  refer  to  our  President  for  an  explanation  of  that  impor- 
tant fact. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  think  it  largely  due  to  the  fame  which  this  State  early  ac- 
quired for  good  government  and  wise  toleration  of  religious  preferences.  Penn 
himself  was  a  man  of  exceeding  nobleness  and  liberality  of  view.  He  had  the  good 
fortune  to  be  strongly  backed  by  the  English  government,  though  in  many  respects 
he  was  in  character  the  very  antipode  of  the  Stuart  kings.  The  colony  soon  ac- 
quired a  reputation  for  stability,  which,  combined  with  the  material  advantages  of 


I2O  Picturesque   l^ours  in  America. 

soil  and  climate  it  offered  to  the  settler,  and  the  policy  of  William  Penn  to  welcome 
good  men  without  respect  to  race  or  religion,  drew  towards  it  the  attention  of  the 
European  nations  in  an  especial  manner.  The  Dutch,  however,  were  really  on  the 
ground  before  Penn,  and  the  Swedes  even  before  them  ;  so  that  when  Penn  came 
upon  the  scene  he  found  a  country  already  in  part  settled  ;  at  least  along  the 
course  of  the  Delaware,  for  a  considerable  distance.  In  the  first  half  of  the  last 
century  a  strong  German  Protestant  emigration  set  in,  meeting  another  steady 
stream  of  Scotch  and  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians,  and  giving  a  decided  tone  to  the 
population  of  the  State. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  That  old  Portage  Road  of  which  mention  has  been  made  is  an 
interesting  relic.  I  remember  traveling  over  it  in  ,1835.  It  was  a  connecting  link, 
thirty-five  miles  long,  between  Johnstown  on  the  western  side  of  the  Alleghanies, 
and  Hollidaysburg  on  their  eastern  slopes.  From  Hollidaysburg  there  was  a  canal 
to  Philadelphia,  and  from  Johnstown  there  was  a  canal  to  Pittsburg.  The  first 
scheme  to  make  this  important  link  between  east  and  west  was  by  means  of  a 
canal  with  locks,  but  the  difficulty  and  expense  seemed  insuperable.  Then  this 
old  Portage  road  was  built  at  a  cost  of  nearly  two  million  dollars.  All  the  bridges 
were  of  stone  ;  the  rails  were  imported  from  England  ;  and  the  whole  was  a  solid 
and  durable  affair. 

BERTRAM  :  Was  it  a  steam  road  ? 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  The  inclined  planes  were  worked  by  stationary  engines,  and  the 
level  portions  of  the  road  by  horses  at  first,  but  afterwards  by  locomotives.  There 
was  a  new  Portage  road  built  in  1856  without  any  inclined  planes,  and  with  two  or 
three  ^  long  tunnels;  but  even  this  was  at  last  abandoned,  or  sold  to  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  Company,  who  laid  out  and  constructed  the  present  track.  Both 
of  these  Portage  roads  are  now  in  ruins  ;  the  rails  have  been  removed,  and  much  of 
the  road  beds  has  been  broken  away  by  torrents,  or  obstructed  by  fallen  trees. 
The  tunnels  are  also  unused. 

At  this  stage  travel  for  this  evening  was  suspended,  and  the  proceedings  became 
informal. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


THE    SUSQUEHANNA    AND    DELAWARE    RIVERS. 

HE  sixth  evening  was  spent  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Goldust,  and  after 
the  transaction  of  the  usual  routine  business,  Miss  Laura  Smith 
was  invited  to  lead  the  club  in  a  Conversational  Tour  through  por- 
tions of  the  Susquehanna  and  Delaware  Valleys. 

LAURA  (reading  from  notes):  The  river  Susquehanna,  from  the 
Indian,  signifying  "Crooked  River,"  is  a  noble  stream,  four  hundred 
miles  in  length,  taking  its  rise  from  Otsego  lake,  New  York,  and  emptying  itself, 
after  a  very  tortuous  course,  through  highly  picturesque  scenery,  into  the  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  at  Havre  de  Grace.  Lake  Otsego,  with  its  magnificent  hemlock  trees, 
which  give  quite  a  character  to  its  scenery,  is  classic  region  in  American  litera- 
ture, the  novelist  J.  Fennimore  Cooper  having  made  it  the  scene  of  many  of  his 
powerful  stories. 

Our  party  went  to  Otsego  Lake  from  Albany  by  the  Albany  and  Susquehanna 
Railroad.  We  stopped  at  Cooperstown,  and  made  that  village  our  head-quarters. 
The  village  is  close  to  the  lake  on  the  south.  The  lake  is  about  1,200  feet  above 
the  sea,  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  eight  or  nine  miles  long,  by  about  a  mile  broad, 
and  set  in  a  cluster  of  hills.  Cooper  has  made  the  region  very  famous,  and  indeed 
it  is  a  very  charming  place,  and  we  enjoyed  many  a  delightful  sail  upon  its  waters. 
THE  PRESIDENT  :  You  have  probably  looked  up  some  facts  about  Cooper.  As 
he  is  so  closely  associated  with  this  region  we  ought  to  know  something  about 
him. 

LAURA  :  Yes,  I  find  that  James  Fennimore  Cooper  was  the  son  of  the  founder 
of  Cooperstown.  His  father  owned  a  good  deal  of  the  land  in  this  region,  which 
was  then  (1790)  on  the  frontier.  Cooper  was  only  a  few  months  old  when  his 
father  moved  from  Burlington,  N.  J.,  ta  Otsego  Lake,  and  his  boyhood  was  spent 
in  this  romantic  and  Indian-trodden  region.  At  sixteen  years  old  he  entered  the 
navy  and  served  six  years.  He  married  in  1811,  resigned  his  commission  as  lieu- 


121 


122  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

tenant,  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Mamaroneck,  N.  Y.,  where  he  wrote  some  of 
his  earlier  publications.  The  first  work  of  his  which  attracted  general  attention 
was  the  "Spy,"  founded  on  American  Revolutionary  incidents;  then  came  "The 
Pilot,"  "  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans,"  and  other  volumes.  He  went  to  Europe  in 
1827,  lived  there  six  years,  and  wrote  several  works.  On  his  return,  his  writings 
took  a  satirical  bias,  and  he  was  much  criticised  by  the  American  press  for  showing 
up  the  peculiarities  of  his  countrymen.  He  settled  down  into  a  regular  course  of 
literary  work  at  Cooperstown,  and  died  of  dropsy  in  1851. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  What  do  you  consider  the  chief  characteristics  of  Cooper  as 
an  author. 

LAURA  :  I  am  hardly  qualified  to  sit  as  a  critic,  but  what  little  I  have  read  of 
Cooper  gives  me  the  impression  of  a  wonderfully  imaginative  faculty,  in  which 
the  results  of  close  and  vivid  observation  serve  as  the  groundwork,  and  give  a 
living  interest  to  his  works  hardly  second  to  that  of  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  I  have  never  read  a  line  of  Cooper,  and  always  supposed  that 
his  books  were  very  trashy  productions. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  That  depends  upon  the  reader  to  a  great  extent  ;  in  reading 
fiction  a  great  deal  of  mental  winnowing  has  to  be  done,  and  it  is  this  which  makes 
it  undesirable  to  become  a  great  novel  reader — the  majority  of  people  read  for 
mere  excitement,  or  to  kill  time,  and  forget  what  is  really  valuable  as  soon  as  it 
is  read. 

LAURA  :  Cooperstown  was  the  home  of  the  novelist  after  his  return  from 
Europe,  and  the  neighborhood  is  full  of  interest  on  his  account. 

In  its  course  to  the  Atlantic  the  Susquehanna  passes  through  a  rich  and  beau- 
tiful country,  receiving  many  tributaries,  large  and  small,  in  its  course.  Passing 
into  Pennsylvania,  it  waters  the  charming  and  famed  Vale  of  Wyoming,  where  we 
again  tread  upon  classic,  even  if  we  may  not  say,  hallowed  ground. 

You  are  aware  that  this  little  valley — some  twenty  miles  long  by  about  three 
broad,  and  exceedingly  lovely  and  peaceful  in  aspect,  nestling  between  bold  and 
rugged  hills — was  the  scene  of  a  fearful  massacre  during  the  war  of  Independence, 
and  has  been  immortalized  by  the  poet  Campbell  in  his  poem,  Gertrude  of  Wyo- 
ming. The  date  of  the  massacre  was  July  3d,  1778.  This  district  was  then  pretty 
well  settled  by  an  industrious,  farming  people.  Sir  Henry  Clinton  was  commander 


The  Susquehanna  and  Delaware  Rivers. 


123 


of  the  British  forces  at  Philadelphia,  and  had  earned  anything  but  an  honorable 
name  as  a  soldier  by  the  countenance  he  gave  to  marauding  and  robbery  in  the 
name  of  warfare.  Most  of  the  men  of  Luzerne  county,  in  which  Wyoming  is  sit- 
uated, were  away  in  Washington's  army,  when  an  infamous  man,  an  American  tory 
named  Major  Butler,  planned  a  raid  from  New  York  State  into  Pennsylvania,  and 
suddenly  appeared  on  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna  near  Wilkesbarre  with  SIX- 


BANKS  OK  THE  SUSQUEHANNA. 


teen  hundred  men,  half  Indians,  and  half  Canadians  and  British.  The  inhabitants 
gathered  together,  and,  fortifying  an  old  fort,  defended  themselves  as  best  they 
could,  but  at  length  capitulated,  on  Butler's  assurance  that  their  lives  would  be 
spared.  The  instant  they  surrendered  the  massacre  began,  and  hundreds  of  men, 
women,  and  children  were  slaughtered.  Then  the  raiders  separated  into  com- 
panies, and  pillaged  the  whole  country,  driving  the  few  surviving  people  into  the 
mountains  and  swamps. 


124  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

I  do  not  propose  to  take  the  Club  any  farther  along  the  course  of  this  river. 
At  Sunbury  it  receives  the  waters  of  its  principal  tributary,  the  west  branch  of  the 
Susquehanna,  itself  a  goodly  stream  200  miles  in  length.  Afterwards  it  receives 
the  Juniata  ;  and  thence  flows  into  Chesapeake  Bay. 

We  now  turn  to  some  points  of  interest  on  the  Delaware  and  Schuylkill 
Rivers. 

The  Delaware  offers  many  attractions  to  the  landscape-loving  tourist,  besides 
being  a  river  of  great  historic  renown  in  the  history  of  this  country.  Like 
its  sister  the  Susquehanna,  it  rises  in  New  York  State,  its  beginning  being  the 
union  of  two  little  streams  flowing  from  the  Catskill  Mountains.  For  about 
seventy  miles  of  its  course  it  forms  the  boundary  between  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania, and  afterwards  it  divides  Pennsylvania  from  New  Jersey. 

DR.   PAULUS  :  What  is  the  origin  of  the  name  ? 

LAURA  :  From  the  first  governor  of  Virginia,   Lord  De  La  Ware,  I  believe. 

GILBERT  :  Is  there  not  an  Indian  tribe  of  the  same  name  ? 

LAURA  :  Certainly — the  Renappi,  as  they  called  themselves,  but  they  were 
christened  Delawares  by  the  English  because  their  home  was  on  the  banks  of  our 
river. 

The  Delaware  Water  Gap,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  Northampton  County, 
and  on  the  line  of  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna,  and  Western  Railroad,  is  a  defile  in 
the  Kittatinny  or  Blue  Mountains,  with  nearly  perpendicular  rocks  1,200  to  1,600 
feet  high  on  either  side.  The  gorge  is  about  two  miles  long,  and  at  the  southeast  end 
the  passage  is  so  narrow  that  the  river  and  the  railroad  have,  so  to  speak,  to  crowd 
close  together  to  get  through. 

Just  above  the  gap  at  the  north  end  is  a  valley  called  Minnisink — Indian, 
"whence  the  waters  are  gone."  A  great  lake  once  had  its  waters  here,  and  where 
it  has  gone  to  is  the  mystery  which  has  come  down  to  us  in  its  Indian  tradition 
and  name. 

This  is  a  lovely  spot  and  is  much  visited.  Of  the  two  mountain  barriers,  that 
on  the  New  Jersey  side  has  been  named  Tammany,  after  an  Indian  chief  ;  and  I 
suppose  that  this  is  the  origin  of  the  name  assumed  by  a  political  party  in  New 
York  city.  The  other  side  is  named  Mt.  Minsi,  also  an  Indian  name  I  suppose. 

MR.   MERRIMAN  :  The  illustration  shows  only  one  side  of  the  gap — which  is  it  ? 


VIEW    OF   A    SPUR    OF   THE   BLUE   MOUNTAINS,    DELAWARE    WATER    GAP,    NEW    JERSEY. 


126  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

LAURA  :  The  New  Jersey,  or  east  side — Mount  Tammany.  It  rises  up,  steep 
and  bare,  with  a  frowning,  ominous  outline.  On  its  summit  is  a  beautiful  little 
lake,  a  mile  across.  Of  course  the  views  are  very  broad  and  beautiful  from  both 
hills,  and  from  many  points.  And,  by  the  way,  there  is  a  "  lovers'  leap  "  from  one 
of  the  promontories  of  Mt.  Minsi,  and  an  Indian  legend,  which  I  suppose  I  may  give. 

MR.   MERRIMAN  :  Let  us  hear  it,  by  all  means. 

LAURA  :  Be  it  known  that  when  the  Dutch  made  their  first  settlements  on  the 
Delaware  River,  calling  the  place  New  Netherlands,  in  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  a  certain  Indian  maiden  named  Winona,  daughter  of  the  mighty 
chief  Wissonoming,  fell  in  love  with  young  Hendrick  Van  Allen,  an  officer  in  one 
of  the  Dutch  expeditions.  The  young  man  returned  her  affection,  but  unfor- 
tunately the  expedition  was  not  successful,  and  he  was  ordered  home  to  Holland. 
For  some  time  he  wavered  between  the  claims  of  love  and  of  his  country,  but 
finally  decided  in  favor  of  the  latter.  On  informing  the  poor  Indian  girl  of  his  de- 
cision, she  sprang  from  his  side  and  flung  herself  over  the  precipice. 

KATE  :  I  think  he  was  decidedly  mean. 

LAURA  :  Although  I  have  only  shown  you  one  illustration  of  the  gap,  I  would 
have  you  understand  that  the  vicinity  is  full  of  romantic  spots,  hills,  vales,  and 
glens,  and  a  summer  may  be  spent  very  delightfully  in  this  region. 

Passing  by  the  many  picturesque  spots  in  the  upper  Delaware,  which  tempt  us 
to  linger,  we  will  now  make  a  rapid  stride  to  the  Schuylkill  River. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  think  it  would  interest  the  club  to  be  reminded  of  some  of  the 
historic  attractions  of  the  Delaware  River,  to  which  you  alluded  a  few  minutes  ago. 

LAURA  :  I  had  almost  forgotten.  I  have  already  spoken  of  the  early  Dutch 
settlements.  Besides  this  there  were  very  early  settlements  from  Sweden,  and  a 
portion  of  country  west  of  the  river  was  named  New  Sweden.  Eventually  all  came 
into  possession  of  the  English,  and,  Penn  having  obtained  a  grant  of  Pennsylvania 
from  Charles  II.,  an  adjustment  of  the  boundaries  had  to  be  made,  and  for  a  time 
what  is  now  the  State  of  Delaware  was  part  of  Pennsylvania.  It  seceded  in  1691 
with  the  reluctant  consent  of  Penn. 

GILBERT  :  Why  did  it  secede  ? 

LAURA  :  I  have  not  read  enough  of  history  to  give  the  full  reason,  but  it  was 
dissatisfied  with  certain  acts  of  the  State  Assembly  and  preferred  to  legislate  upon 


The  Susquehanna  and  Delaware  Rivers.  127 

its  own  affairs.  It  was  one  of  the  most  peaceful  acts  of  secession  which  the  world 
ever  witnessed.  It  was  fortunate  for  the  settlers  in  the  lower  counties,  as  they 
were  termed,  that  they  had  to  deal  with  so  peace-loving  and  honorable  a  governor 
as  Wm.  Penn,  and  that  his  spirit  had  been  caught  by  the  populations  of  the  whole 
State.  Little  Delaware  was  allowed  to  depart  in  peace,  and  grew  up  to  be  a  thriv- 
ing community.  Are  you  tired  of  history  ? 

THE  COLONEL  :  By  no  means  ;  we  cannot  do  better  than  make  these  beautiful 
views  assist  our  memories  as  to  the  events  with  which  they  are  more  or  less  closely 

connected. 

/ 

LAURA  :  It  was  upon  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  that  Penn  held  his  first  con- 
ference with  the  Indian  chiefs.  The  land  between  the  Delaware  and  Schuylkill 
rivers,  where  Philadelphia  now  stands,  was  owned  by  three  Swedes.  Penn  pur- 
chased the  interest  of  the  owners  and  laid  it  out  for  a  city,  giving  names  to  some 
of  the  streets,  such  as  Chestnut,  Walnut,  etc.,  which  they  hold  to  this  day. 

In  the  war  of  Independence  this  river  was  the  scene  of  many  thrilling  incidents, 
which  cannot  all  be  recounted  this  evening.  You  have  all  seen  the  picture  of 
Washington  crossing  the  Delaware  on  his  march  to  Trenton.  He  had  been  chased 
with  his  small  army  through  New  Jersey  by  Cornwallis,  and  had  had  to  cross  the 
river  as  a  fugitive.  This  was  at  the  very  darkest  hour  of  American  history,  when  the 
hearts  of  the  tories  were  rejoicing  at  the  prospect  of  Washington's  utter  defeat. 
But  Washington  rallied  and  determined  on  recrossing  the  river  and  recapturing 
Trenton.  •  On  the  night  of  Christmas,  1776,  he  accomplished  this  feat,  in  the 
piercing  winter  cold,  the  wind  cutting  like  knives,  and  the  twenty-five  hundred 
faithful  soldiers  of  that  little  army  poorly  clad,  weary,  and  faint  with  fasting. 
They  found,  as  they  expected,  that  the  Hessian  troops  at  Trenton  were  asleep  or 
drunk  after  their  Chrismas  carousals.  This  victory  was  the  dawn  of  better  things 
for  America,  and  the  Delaware  will  always  be  associated  with  this  crisis  in  her 
affairs. 

You  are  aware  also  that  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware,  below  its  junction  with 
the  Schuylkill,  was  the  scene  of  important  engagements  in  October,  1776,  between 
the  British  ships  and  the  American  forts,  and  that  Philadelphia  was  for  some  time 
the  head-quarters  of  British  forces.  You  have  also  heard  of  the  battle  of  German- 
town  ;  but  this  brings  me  to  the  end  of  my  stock  of  reminiscences  for  the  present. 


CHAPTER     XIII. 

NIAGARA    FALLS. 

'HE  seventh  Conversational  Tour  of  the  series  was  undertaken  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Victor,  and  was  commenced  (after  the  usual  intro- 
ductory business  had  been  transacted)  by  Aunt  Harriet,  who  was 
invited  to  conduct  the  club  to  Niagara  Falls. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  do  not  know  but  that  I  have  the  most  diffi- 
cult task  of  any,  for  I  suppose  every  member  of  ihis  club  has  seen 
"  The  Falls,"  and  then  they  have  been  so  often  described  that  it  is  well  nigh  im- 
possible to  present  them  in  any  novel  light.  But  I  shall  invite  you  all  to  take  a 
liberal  share  of  responsibility  this  evening,  while  I  try  to  be  as  matter  of  fact  and 
unconventional  as  possible  under  the  circumstances. 

You  are  aware  that  that  portion  of  the  St.  Lawrence  stream  which  lies  between 
Lake -Erie  and  Lake  Ontario  is  called  Niagara  River,  or  river  of  "the  thundering 
waters."  This  river  intersects  an  isthmus  thirty-three  miles  and  a  half  long,  divid- 
ing the  lakes.  As  the  level  of  Ontario  is  334  feet  lower  than  that  of  Erie,  it  is 
evident  that  the  Niagara  River  must  descend  very  rapidly.  This  descent  is,  at  the 
present  time,  classified  in  three  divisions  :  first,  the  rapids,  which  accomplish  52 
feet  in  less  than  a  mile  ;  second,  the  Falls  themselves,  which  have  a  depth  of  about 
1 60  feet  ;  and  third,  the  river  below  the  falls,  which  descends  about  no  feet  or 
more,  leaving  about  twelve  or  fourteen  feet  for  the  descent  of  the  river  between 
the  outlet  of  Erie  and  the  beginning  of  the  rapids. 

The  pouring  forth  of  an  immense  body  of  water,  the  outcome  of  four  mighty 
lakes,  draining  half  a  continent,  through  this  channel  into  the  abyss  of  Ontario, 
gives  an  effect  which,  for  grandeur  and  a  sense  of  irresistible  power,  has  no  par- 
allel  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  We  can  hardly  conceive  of  the  force  involved  in 
this  plunge  over  the  rocks  of,  say,  one  hundred  millions  of  tons  of  water  every  hour, 
year  after  year,  century  after  century.  The  mind  cannot  at  once  grasp  the 
thought,  and  it  is  only  after  one  has  sat  some  time  in  silence  within  sight  and 
128 


FALLS  OF   NIAGARA,    WEST   SIDE. 


130  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

sound  of  the  cataract  that  its  inexpressible    majesty  dominates   the  senses,  and 
brings  one  helplessly  beneath  its  spell. 

,  LILIAN  :  I  think  I  felt  this  most  one  afternoon  when  I  clambered  about  half 
way  down  the  steep  on  the  Canadian  side,  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  Falls, 
and  sat  there  alone  among  the  rocks  for — I  do  not  know  how  long.  I  was  com- 
pletely fascinated.  It  seemed  as  though  I  were  no  longer  of  this  world  at  all. 

CLARA  :  And  then  the  indescribable  melody  of  these  mighty  waters  !  Thun- 
dering is  in  one  sense  a  very  appropriate  word,  especially  to  convey  the  idea  one 
gets  of  Niagara  at  first,  or  at  some  distance  ;  but  as  you  listen,  and  listen,  the 
most  glorious  harmony  grows  out  of  all  this  tumult. 

BERTRAM  :  That  reminds  me  of  an  article  in  a  recent  number  of  the  Century, 
in  which  the  writer,  Mr.  Eugene  Thayer,  says,  in  effect,  that  he  never  heard  the 
•roar  of  Niagara,  but  only  and  always  a  perfectly  constructed  and  most  exquisite 
harmony  of  musical  sounds ;  and  he  elaborates  this  thought  out  very  ingeniously, 
and  as  I  think  very  truthfully. 

DR.   PAULUS  :  You  remind  me  of  Thomson's  Hymn  on  the  Seasons  : 

"  His  praise,  ye  brooks  attune — ye  trembling  rills ; 
And  let  me  catch  it,  as  I  muse  along. 

Ye  headlong  torrents,  rapid  and  profound, 
#         *         * 

Sound  His  stupendous  praise." 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  It  seems  more  consistent,  certainly,  to  associate  the  idea  of 
praise  with  that- of  harmony  than  with  a  discordant  roar.  The  poets  in  all  ages 
have  given  to  inanimate  nature  this  quality  of  finding  expression  in  musical  sounds. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  Here  is  a  view  of  the  Falls  from  the  Canada  side,  which  will 
help  us,  I  think,  to  understand  Lilian's  feelings  in  her  solitary  musings. 

THE  COLONEL  :  It  looks  as  though  there  must  be  a  gradual  process  of  crum- 
bling away  going  on  in  the  rock  formations.  What  is  your  idea  on  that  point, 
Professor  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  Falls  are  destined 
to  undergo  very  great  and  perhaps  sudden  changes  in  the  future,  as  they  undoubk 
edly  have  in  the  past.  The  geological  formation  is  highly  favorable  to  change. 


Niagara  Falls. 


We  have  not  the  old  granitic  and  basaltic  rocks  of  the  Yellowstone,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  have  an  almost  immeasurably  greater  volume  of  water — less  re- 
sisting power  and  more  force. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  What  is  the 
geological  character  of  the  bed 
of  Niagara  ? 

THE   PRESIDENT  :  It   is  not 
of  a  uniform  character.      Pro- 
fessor  Hall,  the   geologist,  de- 
scribes the  bed  of  the  Falls  as 
a  limestone   rock   resting  on  a 
shaly  deposit,  which  gradually 
wears  away,  causing  the  upper 
rock,    from    time    to    time,    to 
crumble  into  the  abyss.     Two 
miles  farther  up,  towards  Erie,  the  lime- 
stone gives    place    to  shales  and   marls 
of  the  Onondaga  Salt  group,  which  of     /  /-=•  4 
course  would   offer   a  very  slight   resist-    -h;: 
ance  to  such  a  force.    It  may  be  thousands 
of  years,  however,  before  the  water  wears 
through  these  two  miles  of  limestone. 

THE  COLONEL  :  If  I  understand  you 
it  is  not  the  actual  wear  of  the  limestone  rock 
so  much  as  the  undermining  process  in  the 
softer  shales  which  underlie  it,  that  is  mainly 
instrumental  in  effecting  these  changes  in  the 
river  bed. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Exactly.  You  see  this  in  this  picture  of  the  vertical  stairs, 
and  also  in  the  Cave  of  the  Winds.  It  becomes  very  evident  to  the  senses  that  the 
lower  portion  of  the  rock  is  hollowing  in,  so  to  speak,  and  it  is  but  a  question  of 
time  for  the  weight  of  the  superincumbent  mass  to  cause  it  to  yield,  a  portion  at  a 
time  probably. 


THE  VERTICAL   STAIRS. 


132 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America, 


THE  AMERICAN   FALL. 


CLARA  :  I  shall  be  afraid  to  go  again 
into  the  Cave  of  the  Winds. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  The  contingency  is 
sufficiently  remote  to  remove  the  idea  of 
any  great  peril. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :    It   is  only 
fer  =    within  the  present   century  that 
careful  observations  have  been 
^r  made  of   the  channel,  and  yet, 
IJI^     since  then,   various    facts    have 
been  established.     In  1818,  large 
portions  were  detached  from  the 
crust  of  the  American  Fall,  and 
in  1828  the  same  thing  occurred 
with  the  Horse-Shoe  Fall.  Table 
Rock  has  entirely  disappeared, 
within,   I     think,  twenty    years. 
The  view  of  the  American  Fall 
shows  an  accumulation 
of  detritus  and  rock  at 
the    foot,    of    which 
visitors  are  availing 
themselves.    Further,  it 
is  said  that  the  rate  of 
retrogression     of    the 
falls  is  about  a  foot  a 
year,  and  that  this  fact 
is  established  by  obser- 
vations made  within  the 
past  forty  years. 

The    descent    from 


the  Canadian  side  close 
to   the    Fall    is    either 


THE   HORSE-SHOE   FALLS. 


from  the  tower, 
or  by  steps  cut 
in  the  rock.     A 
£  fee  is  charged  in  either 
*?  case,    for    as    yet  the 
.k    property  on  both  sides 
"'  of  the   river  is  in  pri- 

:      J  *• 

vate    hands.       Efforts 
/   '   have    been    made    by 
both  the  Canadian  and 


134 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


the  American  government  to  purchase  these  private  rights,  but  up  to  the  present 
time  these  efforts  have  not  been  successful,  and  the  visitor  is  met  at  every  turn  by 
a  request  for  money.  There  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  submit  to  these  exactions  with 
all  the  grace  and  patience  possible,  or  to  be  content  with  such  general  views  as  one 
can  get. 

I  think  I  have  here  the  most  striking  picture  of  the  Horse-Shoe  Falls  I  remem- 


OLD    SUSPENSION   BRIDGE,    NIAGARA   FALLS. 


ber  to  have  seen.  Of  course  the  effect  is  considerably  heightened  by  the  con- 
cealment of  the  river  by  the  clouds  of  spray  and  vapor,  but  the  sublimity  of  the 
scene  is  very  faithfully  depicted. 

In  visiting  the  Falls  from  the  American  side  one  usually  first  crosses  the  bridge 


Niagara  Falls. 


135 


to  Goat  Island,  which  divides  the  American  from  the  Center  Fall,  From  this  bridge 
you  get  a  grand  view  of  the  Rapids,  and  you  also  see  a  little  island  that  has  been 
made  memorable  by  the  rescue  from  it  of  a  workman  who  fell  into  the  stream 
while  working  on  the  bridge.  Fortunately  he  was  borne  against  this  island  and 
was  taken  off,  at  great  risk  to  his  rescuer.  From  Goat  Island  we  proceed  by  a 
short  foot-bridge  to  Luna  Island  and  thence  by  the  Biddies  stairs  to  the  Cave 
of  the  Winds,  which  is  immediately  below  the  Center  Fall.  But  I  must  not 
attempt  to  lead  you  through  all  the  sights.  I  ought  to  say  that  the  width  of  the 
American  Fall  is  a  thousand  feet,  and  that  of  the  Horse-Shoe  Fall  two  thousand 
two  hundred  feet,  while  the  depth  of  water  over  the  Fall  is  at  least  twenty  feet. 

GILBERT  :  How  did  they  find  that  out  ? 

AUNT  HARRIET  :   By  sending  a  large  disused  ship,  drawing  over  eighteen  feet, 


THE    WHIRLPOOL. 


adrift  over  the  Falls.     She  cleared  the  rocks  without  touching,  and  plunged  over. 

You  have,  of  course,  crossed  the  river  at  the  foot  of  the  Falls  in  the  boat,  and 
also  walked  over  the  Suspension  Bridge,  which,  with  its  towers,  one  on  either  side 
of  the  gorge,  is  worth  visiting  for  the  excellent  views  they  offer  both  of  the  Falls 
and  the  surrounding  scenery.  Another  good  point  is  the  Railroad  Suspension 
Bridge,  which  has  also  a  carriage  and  a  foot  way,  and  is  two  miles  below  the  cat- 
aract. A  mile  farther  down  the  river  is  the  famous  whirlpool,  preceded  by  the 
whirlpool  rapids. 

Turning  now  from  the  physical  features  of  these   scenes,  of  which  I  have  not 


136  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

even  mentioned  one  half  that  are  striking,  I  must  refer  briefly  to  some  of  the  his- 
torical characteristics  of  this  vicinity. 

During  the  war  of  1812  this  was  a  great  battle  ground.  At  Queenston,  about 
seven  miles  from  the  Falls  on  the  Canada  side,  and  directly  opposite  Lewiston, 
stands  a  monument  to  General  Brock,  who  fell  there  in  an  engagement  between 
the  American  and  British  forces  on  October  n,  1812.  The  Canadians  point  to 
this  monument  with  a  great  deal  of  pride,  as  it  not  only  represents  the  deeds  of  a 
brave  soldier,  but  signalizes  the  repulse  of  the  first  and  only  serious  invasion  of 
Canadian  soil  since  its  unification  under  the  British  Crown. 

CYRIL  :  Why  do  you  say  serious  ? 

AUNT  HARRIET:  Because  I  can  hardly  dignify  the  Fenian  invasion  of  1866  as 
serious,  although  in  one  sense  it  was  so,  undoubtedly.  It  was  so  utterly  chimeri- 
cal, and  withal  so  futile,  that  it  brought  the  cause  which  it  was  intended  to 
serve  into  ridicule,  though  it  succeeded  in  arousing  a  thoroughly  patriotic  and 
military  spirit  among  the  Canadians. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  It  was  a  serious  scare  for  the  Canadians  too.  I  was  in  To 
ronto  at  the  time  of  the  Fenian  invasion  on  business,  and  the  excitement  there  was 
very  great.  The  volunteers  met  and  engaged  the  Fenian  force  about  ten  miles 
from  Fort  Erie,  on  the  Welland  Canal,  at  a  spot  called  Limeridge,  and  the  result 
was  not  very  decisive  on  either  side.  The  Canadians  were  inexperienced  soldiers, 
not  very  well  officered,  and  the  Fenians  were  certainly  no  better  in  that  respect. 
Several  were  killed  on  both  sides,  and  O'Neil,  the  Fenian  leader,  thought  it  pru- 
dent to  make  his  way  across  the  frontier  during  the  following  night.  Meanwhile 
the  Fenians  had  also  planned  an  elaborate  attack  on  Prescott,  with  the  view  of 
marching  on  to  Ottawa  the  seat  of  the  Dominion  government,  but  by  this  time 
the  American  government  were  aroused  to  a  sense  of  duty,  and  nipped  the  enter- 
prise in  the  bud.  For  a  long  time  afterwards  Canada  was  intensely  excited  over 
this  impudent  attack. 

ALBERT  :  Is  not-  Lundy's  Lane  in  the  vicinity  of  Niagara  ? 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  Yes,  and  that  also  was  the  scene  of  an  engagement  between 
the  American  and  British  forces  on  July  25th,  1814.  Lundy's  Lane  is  a  very  short 
distance  from  the  Falls.  On  this  occasion  both  sides  lost  heavily,  and  both  claimed 
the  victory,  but  the  British  held  possession  of  the  field. 


Niagara  Falls.  137 


KATE  :  I  am  no  doubt  very  ignorant  about  these  matters,  but  I  feel  very  much 
inclined  to  ask,  with  little  Peterkin  or  his  sister — I  forget  which — 

"  Now  tell  us  all  about  the  war 
And  what  they  killed  each  other  for." 

AUNT  HARRIET:  I  would  like  to  appeal  to  our  friend  John  Smith  for  informa- 
tion. 

JOHN  :  You  compliment  me  greatly,  and  I  can  only  say  that  in  my  judgment, 
based  upon  a  very  moderate  amount  of  historical  reading,  the  war  of  1812  grew 
out  of  the  high-handed  way  in  which  the  British  administration  dealt  with  Ameri- 
can interests,  commercial  and  otherwise,  towards  the  close  of  the  Napoleon-French 
war,  when  Great  Britain  was  virtually  mistress  of  the  seas — fanned  as  this  com- 
plaint undoubtedly  was  by  a  preponderance  of  sympathy  with  France  in  America, 
and  probably  by  a  desire  of  the  Democratic  party,  then  in  power  in  America,  to 
annex  Canada  to  the  United  States.  America  had  been  bullied  a  good  deal  by 
Great  Britain,  and  she  was  spirited  enough  to  resent  the  insults  shown  her,  and  to 
retaliate  in  kind. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  It  is  strange  how  soon  Christian  nations  will  drift  into  war  with 
each  other  for  causes  which,  in  the  hands  of  half  a  dozen  impartial  and  intelligent 
men,  could  be  adjusted,  perhaps,  in  a  single  day. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  am  very  much  of  the  opinion  of  the  Prussian  barber  about 
whom  Dr.  Russell  in  "  Hesperothen  "  tells  us,  who,  in  reply  to  a  question  which 
seemed  to  throw  a  doubt  upon  his  patriotism,  said  that  in  his  opinion  "  fighting 
was  nonsense  "  —very  disastrous  nonsense,  no  doubt,  but  still  without  sense  or 
reason  to  justify  it. 

THE   PRESIDENT  :  What  do  you  say  to  that,  Colonel  ? 

THE  COLONEL  :  I  quite  agree  with  Miss  Victor  in  the  main  ;  but  the  business 
of  the  soldier  is  to  fight  whenever  his  country  orders  him  to  do  so,  and  not  to  go 
into  any  reasons  for  or  against. 

AUNT  HARRIET:  I  think  we  are  getting  a  little  wide  of  our  subject,  and  as  we 
have  another  and  a  longer  journey  to  take  this  evening,  I  think  we  must  bid  fare- 
well to  Niagara  with  all  its  associations,  its  beauty,  and  its  sublimity. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  It  will  interest  us,  however,  if  you  can  furnish  us  with   any 


138  Picturesque   Tours  in  America, 

more  historical  points.  They  contribute  largely  to  the  value  and  the  delight  of  our 
excursions. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  Let  me  see.  A  little  west  of  Lundy's  Lane  is  Chippewa 
Creek,  where,  on  the  5th  of  July,  1814,  a  severe  battle  was  fought  between  the 
Americans  and  the  British.  This  time  it  was  the  British  who  got  the  worst  of  it, 
being  driven  into  their  intrenchments.  This  was  about  three  weeks  before  the  bat- 
tle of  Lundy's  Lane.  It  is  but  fair  to  state  that  the  struggle  was  a  very  severe 
one,  and  that  before  the  winter  the  Americans  thought  it  prudent  to  retire  across 
the  river  to  Buffalo. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  river  the  towns  of  Lewiston  and  of  Niagara  were  both 
scenes  of  warlike  operations.  Lewiston  was  captured  and  burnt  by  the  British,  to- 
gether with  Youngstown  and  Manchester,  in  the  campaign  of  1813  ;  while  Newark, 
a  Canadian  town  near  Fort  George,  was  burnt  by  the  American  General  McClure 
just  before  these  events. 

In  fact,  the  whole  Niagara  isthmus  was  terribly  harassed  during  this  war  of 
1812-1814.  The  Indians  fought  chiefly  on  the  British  side,  and  were  valuable  and 
powerful  allies. 

GILBERT  :  How  did  it  all  end  ? 

AUNT  HARRIET:  As  far  as  I  can  understand,  both  nations  grew  heartily  sick  and 
tired  of  the  war.  Commissioners  met  at  Ghent  in  Belgium  in  1814,  and,  after 
spending  some  months  in  negotiations,  signed  a  treaty  of  peace.  In  this  treaty 
not  a  word  was  said  about  the  original  causes  of  offense,  and  its  main  provisions 
related  simply  to  some  petty  matters  about  boundary  lines. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  The  war  was  a  disgrace  all  round.  It  inflicted  untold  inju- 
ries upon  this  country,  from  which  our  people  long  suffered  in  many  ways.  At  the 
same  time  it  taught  England  a  wholesome  lesson.  The  only  parties  that  came  out 
of  the  war  with  real  credit  were  the  Canadians,  who,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
mother  country,  kept  their  territory  inviolate,  and  even  profited  by  the  war.  Eng- 
land paid  her  own  bills,  and  also  in  the  main  those  of  Canada. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  Let  us  hope  that  the  good  sense  of  all  parties  will  prevent  any 
such  misunderstanding  in  the  future,  or  that,  at  any  rate,  should  causes  of  offense 
arise,  they  may  be  settled  by  honorable  conference  or  arbitration  without 
bloodshed. 


CHAPTER     XIV. 

LAKE     SUPERIOR. 

LBERT  :  Away,  if  you  please,  up  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
United  States,  the  south  coast  line  of  Lake  Superior.  If  we  were 
about  to  make  the  tour  of  the  upper  lakes,  we  should  probably  start 
from  Buffalo,  and  occupy  two  weeks  going  and  returning ;  but  on  this 
occasion  I  invite  you  to  undertake  a  portion  only  of  this  tour. 

We   can   take   an  aerial  flight  across  the  province  of  Ontario  in 
Canada,  over  a  portion  of  Lake  Huron,  leaving  the  great  Georgian  Bay  and  Mani- 
toulin  Island  to  our  right,  and  meet  the  steamer  in  the  St.  Mary  River,  the  strait, 
or   stream   (it   is  sixty-two   miles   long),  connecting  Lakes    Superior  and    Huron. 
We  avoid  the  rapids  by  going  through  the  ship  canal,  and  soon  find  ourselves  on 
the   bosom  of  this   majestic  inland  sea — the   largest  body  of   fresh  water  in  the. 
world.      Shall  I  give  the  dimensions  ? 
KATE  :  Certainly. 

ALBERT  :  Lake  Superior  is  360  miles  long,  with  an  average  width  of  eighty- 
five  miles.  It  has  a  shore  line  of  1,500  miles,  and  an  area  of  32,000  square  miles. 
It  drains  a  territory  of  at  least  100,000  square  miles,  and  its  bottom  is  200  feet 
lower  than  the  level  of  the  ocean.  Its  depth  is  about  800  feet  in  the  deepest  por- 
tions. These,  of  course,  are  guide-book  facts  ;  but  they  are  necessary  to  know,  if 
we  would  have  a  fair  idea  of  our  subject. 

The  scenery  around  this  lake  is  rocky  and  picturesque,  and  there  are  not  a  few 
associations  connected  with  it  which  make  it  very  interesting  to  the  tourist. 

I  have  three  views  only  for  your  inspection,  but  they  are  of  scenes  which,  on 
more  than  one  account,  are  peculiarly  memorable.  They  show  us  portions  of 
what  are  known  as  the  Pictured  Rocks.  These  rocks  extend  for  about  five  miles 
along  the  southern  shore  at  the  widest  part  of  the  lake,  and  derive  their  name 
from  the  different  colors  distributed  in  regular  strata  or  lines  upon  their  seaward 
139 


140  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

surface.  These  bands  of  brilliant  color  are  produced  by  the  percolation  of  water 
through  the  porous  sandstone.  The  water  is  impregnated  with  iron  and  copper, 
and  on  its  exposure  to  the  air  conveys  a  tone  or  tint  to  the  cliff.  The  rocks  them- 
selves are  from  one  to  three  hundred  feet  high,  and  have  been  buffeted  and  beaten 
by  the  action  of  the  winds  and  waves  into  all  manner  of  grotesque  and  fantastic 
shapes.  'They  descend  precipitously  into  the  water,  with  little  or  no  intervening 
beach,  so  that  to  inspect  them  thoroughly  one  has  to  land  and  take  a  sail  or  row 
boat. 

Here  we  have  a  view  of  Grand  Chapel  rocks,  which  I  see  the  artist  has  given  us 
with  all  the  surroundings  of  a  thunder-storm.  It  looks  a  weird  and  awful  place. 
The  roof  of  the  chapel  is  arched  and  supported  by  beautiful  columns,  and  a  broken 
column  inside  has  the  appearance  of  a  pulpit  or  altar.  The  roof  is  crowned  with 
trees  and  shrubs. 

Speaking  of  thunder-storms  I  ought  to  say  that  Lake  Superior  is  very  subject 
to  them,  and  indeed  to  storms  of  all  kinds,  and  that  their  effect  is  plainly  visible 
along  its  coasts  and  headlands.  The  imagination  of  the  Indians  peopled  this 
region  with  all  kinds  of  evil  spirits,  and  made  it  the  scene  of  violent  conflicts. 
Some  of  the  Indian  traditions  and  legends  have  been  gathered  skillfully  together 
by  Longfellow  in  "The  Song  of  Hiawatha,"  of  which  we  may  perhaps  hear  some- 
thing by  and  by  from  another  member  of  this  club. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  It  is  creditable  to  the  person  who  invented  the  names  for  these 
places  that  so  respectable  and  pious  a  title  has  been  selected  for  the  rock  we  have 
just  been  looking  at.  It  is  a  decided  change  for  the  better  from  the  Satanic  or 
Titanic  nomenclature  one  expects  to  find  in  such  regions  as  these. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  We  must  remember  that  the  region  of  Lake  Superior  was 
early  visited  by  Christian  missionaries  of  the  Catholic  persuasion,  and  probably 
the  circumstance  you  notice  may  be  due  to  their  early  presence  on  the  field.  I 
am  not  a  Catholic,  but  I  think  there  is  much  to  admire,  and  even  to  revere,  in  the 
missions  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  to  the  North  American. Indians.  We  have,  among 
the  many  islands  of  this  lake,  The  Apostles,  The  St.  Ignace,  and  Pio  (or  Pius) 
islands. 

ALBERT  :  My  second  view  is  of  a  picturesque  cascade  a  little  to  the  west  of  the 
Chapel.  It  is  a  small  affair  compared  with  some  cataracts  we  have  lately  vis- 


"GRAND  CHAPEL"  ROCKS. 


142 


Picturesque   Toitrs  in  America. 


ited,  but  it  is  a  pleasant  object  to  see  and  hear  in  these  watery  wilds,  and  we  may 
do  worse  than  linger  for  a  while  within  sound  of  its  ceaseless  flow. 

The  third  view  is  of  what  is  known  as  the  Great  Cave — a  very  peculiar  and 
striking  object.  It  is  a  huge  rectangular  mass  projecting  some  distance  from  the 
line  of  the  cliffs.  On  the  lake  side  there  is  a  beautiful  archway,  a  hundred  and 

fifty  feet  high,  and  on  the  other  two 
sides  there  are  small  openings.  These 
lead  to  an  interior  apartment,  irregular, 
and  strewn  with  debris,  and  with  smaller 
caverns,  or  recesses  in  the  walls.  The 
whole  interior  is  moss-grown.  The 
waves  of  the  lake  drive  into  this  cavern 
during  storms  with  mighty  force,  work- 
ing constant  changes. 

There  are  other  natural  features  of 
P  this  group  of  rocks  which  are  worth 
describing,  but  I  shall  not  now  stop  to 
do  so,  as  our  visit  must  be  brief.  Do 
\  not  forget,  if  you  sail  among  these  rocks 
again,  to  look  out  for  the  Empress  of 
the  Lake — a  profile  not  noticeable  by 
day,  but  which  comes  out  very  clearly 
by  moonlight.  And  now,  as  I  know 
that  my  aunt  has  been  quietly  reading 
Longfellow  for  the  last  two  or  three 
days,  I  would  beg  of  her  to  give  us 
some  idea  of  those  Indian  legends 
to  which  I  referred  a  few  minutes 


CASCADE   NEAR    CHAPEL    ROCKS. 


ago. 


AUNT  HARRIET:  Longfellow's  poem 
of  Hiawatha  is  full  of  them,  and  some  refer  to  this  region.  You  have  all,  however, 
read  the  poem,  doubtless. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  I  have  not. 


Lake  Superior. 


LAURA  :  I  tried  to  read  it,  but  could  not  make  head  or  tail  out  of  it,  it  seemed 
so  absurd.     I  suppose  I  must  be  very  stupid. 

GRACE:  I  just  remember  that  there  is  a  love  story  in  it  between  Hiawatha  and 


THE   GREAT   CAVE. 


Minnehaha,  or  Laughing  Water,  and  that  they  lived  very  happily  together,  until 
Minnehaha  died  one  winter  of  fever  or  famine,  or  something. 


144  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  If  you  read  the  introduction  to  the  poem  you  will  be  tempted 
to  read  it  through,  though. some  of  it  may  seem  at  first  a  tissue  of  absurdity. 

Ye  whose  hearts  are  fresh  and  simple, 
Who  have  faith  in  God  and  Nature  ; 
Who  believe  that  in  all  ages 
Every  human  heart  is  human ; 
That  in  even  savage  bosoms 
There  are  longings,  yearnings,  strivings, 
For  the  good  they  comprehend  not ; 
That  the  feeblest  hands,  and  helpless, 
Groping  blindly  in  the  darkness, 
Touch  God's  right  hand  in  that  darkness, 
And  are  lifted  up  and  strengthened  : — 
Listen : 

DR.  PAULUS  :  "  In  every  nation,  he  that  feareth   God  and  worketh  righteous- 
ness is  accepted  of  him." 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Perhaps  the  chief  merit  of  this  poem  is  the  studious  fidelity 
to  Indian  tradition  which  it  indicates,  combined  with  the  insight  it  gives  into  the 
workings  of  the  human  mind  in  circumstances  so  different  from  ours. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  Any  one  who  has  read  Hiawatha  will  think  of  Pau-puk-kee- 
wis  and  the  Gitchie  Gumee  or  Big-Sea-Water,  when  he  visits  the  Pictured  Rocks. 

Then  along  the  sandy  margin 
Of  the  lake,  the  Big-Sea-Water, 
On  he  sped  with  frenzied  gestures, 
Stamped  upon  the  sand  and  tossed  it 
Wildly  in  the  air  around  him  ; 
Till  the  wind  became  a  whirlwind  ; 
Till  the  sand  was  blown  and  sifted 
Like  great  snow  drifts  o'er  the  landscape, 
Heaping  all  the  shores  with  Sand  Dunes, 
Sand  Hills  of  the  Nagow  Wudjoo. 


Lake  Superior.  145 


THE  PRESIDENT  :  There  is  a  strong,  though  of  course  grotesque,  relationship 
perceptible  in  some  of  these  traditions  with  Scripture  record.  Hiawatha  is  himself 
of  divine  origin  ;  he  is  the  prophet  and  friend  of  humanity  ;  he  bears  a  commission 
to  benefit  his  race.  His  mission  ends  when  the  Black-robed  Pale-face  comes  to 
tell  his  people  of  the  blessed  Saviour.  In  one  of  his  adventures  we  have  an  odd 
resemblance  to  the  experience  of  Jonah.  All  this,  with  the  avowed  intention  of 
the  author  to  reproduce  Indian  traditions  faithfully,  makes  Hiawatha  worthy  of 
special  study  for  other  reasons  than  for  its  delineations  of  scenery. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  Undoubtedly,  and  I  admire  the  happy  way  in  which  the  poet 
manages  to  depict  the  more  human  features  of  the  Indian  character,  bringing  that 
race,  so  to  speak,  into  the  realm  of  our  common  brotherhood.  But  I  presume  we 
must  not  travel  too  far  from  Lake  Superior. 

MRS.  MERRIMAN  :  There  is  a  poem  of  Whittier's  entitled  "  On  receiving  art 
eagle's  quill  from  Lake  Superior."  To  him,  the  sign  speaks  of  the  onward  march 
of  the  American  nation  : 

The  rudiments  of  empire  here 

Are  plastic  yet  and  warm  ; 
The  chaos  of  a  mighty  world 

Is  rounding  into  form. 

*  *  *  -X-  -3f  * 

Thy  symbol  be  the  mountain  bird 
Whose  glistening  quill  I  hold. 

ALBERT  :  And  with  this  symbol  before  us,  reminding  us  of  the  distance  we  are 
from  our  homes,  and  the  necessity  for  bold  arid  rapid  flight,  I  will  bespeak  the 
power  of  an  eagle's  pinion  for  each  one  of  our  company  for  our  southward  journey, 
and  so  close  our  portfolio  for  this  evening. 


CHAPTER    XV 


BOSTON    AND    THE    WHITE    MOUNTAINS. 


HEN  the  J.  U.  T.  C.  came  together,  as  arranged,  for  their  eighth 
meeting,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Goldust,  every  member,  as  usual, 
was  present  ;  and,  after  the  transaction  of  the  routine  business, 
the  conversation  was  directed  to  the  subject  of  the  tour  for  the 
evening,  namely,  Boston  and  the  White  Mountains,  the  President 
taking  the  part  of  leader. 
THE  PRESIDENT  :  In  any  conversation  or  discussion  about  New  England,  no 
matter  from  what  standpoint,  it  would  be  decidedly  improper  to  leave  out 
Boston  ;  and  so,  in  our  wanderings  hither  and  thither  among  the  hills  and  valleys 
of  New  England,  we  shall  do  well  to  make  Boston  our  rendezvous  and  point  of 
departure.  We  can,  however,  only  touch  with  exceeding  brevity  upon  some  of  the 
features  worthy  of  notice  in  that  city.  The  view  here  given  is  of  that  part  of 
Boston  seen  from  Bunker  Hill  in  the  city  of  Charlestown,  and  looking  out  towards 
the  bay.  As  you  know,  Boston  is  built  upon  an  irregularly  shaped  peninsula,  being 
in  this  respect  somewhat  akin  to  New  York;  but,  unlike  New  York,  the  city  limits 
are  not  confined  to  the  peninsula,  but  reach  over  and  include  the  adjacent  lands 
and  islands,  with  which  it  is  connected  by  free  bridges.  Old  Boston,  however,  was 
a  much  more  restricted  place,  the  various  additions  to  the  city  having  been  made 
by  annexation  from  time  to  time. 

Bunker  Hill  monument,  from  which  our  view  of  Boston  is  taken,  occupies  the 
site  of  an  old  redoubt  on  Breed's  Hill,  famous  in  the  annals  of  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence. It  is  a  square  column  tapering  towards  the  top,  with  a  spiral  staircase 
inside,  and  a  small  room  just  below  the  apex,  from  which  a  fine  view  is  afforded. 
Perhaps  we  ought  to  pause  here  for  an  instant  for  a  brief  talk  about  the  events  of 
the  stirring  times  commemorated  by  this  simple  but  yet  grand  stone  pile. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  As  Americans  we  cannot  but  feel  proud  of  the  historic  associa- 
146 


148  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

tions  of  this  spot.  Here  was  fought  out  one  of  the  sublimest  conflicts  that  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  Of  course,  Boston  had  not  all  the  struggle  to  herself,  by  any  means  ; 
but  she  occupied  a  most  conspicuous  position  in  the  history  of  that  eventful  period. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Let  us  try  to  realize  something  of  the  position  of  things  on 
June  17,  1775.  The  American  army,  with  their  headquarters  at  Cambridge,  under 
General  Ward,  at  this  time  surrounded  Boston,  and  the  British,  under  General 
Gage,  were  cooped  up  in  the  city,  with  free  access,  of  course,  to  the  ocean.  On 
the  one  hand,  the  Americans  were  bent  on  driving  the  British  into  the  sea  ;  and  on 
the  other,  the  British  were  determined  to  force  back  the  Americans  from  their 
too  close  proximity.  The  British  troops  were  well  quartered,  had  abundant  sup- 
plies, and  were  a  fine,  well-disciplined  body  of  men.  The  Americans  were  raw 
militia,  most  of  them  fresh  from  their  farms,  with  such  weapons  as  they  could  com- 
mand, and  very  moderately  supplied  with  ammunition  ;  but  every  man  was  fired 
with  enthusiasm,  and  could  be  relied  on  to  the  last  emergency. 

Looking  back  across  the  century  and  recalling  the  memorable  struggle  of  that 
bright  June  day,  there  mingles  in  my  mind  a  feeling  of  sadness,  with  the  natural 
emotion  of  joy  at  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  cause  of  liberty.  Behind  that  double 
row  of  rail  fences,  stuffed  with  the  new-mown  hay  from  the  Charlestown  fields,  were 
the  descendants  of  men  who  by  patient  toil,  by  suffering  and  hardship,  through 
blood  and  tears  and  fire  and  famine,  had  created  a  paradise  out  of  a  howling 
wilderness,  and  had  handed  it  to  their  sons — a  heritage  of  industry  and  virtue. 
A  stupid  king  thousands  of  miles  off,  surrounded  by  proud  and  foolish  nobles, 
instead  of  treating  this  bright  and  fair  offshoot  from  England  with  the  justness 
and  frankness  which  it  deserved,  must  needs  set  to  work,  inspired  by  senseless 
counsels,  to  harass  and  pinch  and  vex  the  new  colony  with  unjust,  meddlesome, 
and  despotic  laws.  The  patient  toilers  over  the  seas  stood  this  as  long  as  they 
could  ;  but  human  patience  has  its  limits,  and  it  was  absurd  for  George  the  Third 
to  imagine  that  men  who  had  sprung  from  such  stock,  and  had  such  a  record  as 
the  inhabitants  of  the  American  colonies,  were  going  to  be  ruled  by  a  foolish 
despot  and  a  handful  of  haughty  and  disdainful  nobles.  Unfortunately,  these 
nobles  and  their  king  were  able  to  commit  the  people  of  England — the  brothers 
of  the  colonists — to  the  cause  of  oppression,  and,  in  the  conflict  which  followed, 
brother  was  arrayed  against  brother. 


Boston  and  the  White  Mountains.  149- 

DR.  PAULUS  :  "Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offenses  !  for  it  must  needs  be 
that  offenses  come  ;  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense  cometh." 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Gilbert,  can  you  give  us  very  briefly  the  main  incidents  of 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  ? 

GILBERT  :  I  will  try,  sir.  The  hasty  entrenchments  which  you  have  described 
were  on  Breed's  Hill,  where  the  Bunker  Hill  monument  now  stands.  This  hill 
was  part  of  a  farm  belonging  to  a  Mr.  Breed.  A  line  of  earthworks  and  a  redoubt 
had  been  hastily  thrown  up  during  the  night  on  the  flanks  of  Breed's  hill  nearest 
Boston.  General  Prescott  held  this  position  on  the  morning  of  the  1 7th  with  a 
thousand  men,  who  had  toiled  all  night  at  the  earthworks,  and  in  the  morning  he 
was  reinforced  by  General  Stark,  with  five  hundred  men,  and  General  Warren,  of 
Boston,  a  physician  soldier,  and  a  man  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  co-patriots.  Dr. 
Warren  took  his  station  in  the  redoubt,  and  General  Stark  with  his  five  hundred 
men  lined  the  inside  of  the  rail  fences  which  extended  from  Breed's  Hill  to  the 
Mystic  River. 

Meanwhile  the  British,  led  by  Generals  Howe,  Burgoyne,  and  Pigot,  landed  at 
Morton's  or  Moulton's  Point,  with  three  thousand  men — infantry,  grenadiers, 
marines,  and  artillery.  The  soldiers  were  well  under  cover  of  the  British  ships  in 
the  harbor,  and,  as  the  boats  landed  the  men,  they  were  formed  in  companies,  and 
then,  sitting  down  on  the  grass,  ate  their  dinners — for  more  than  a  thousand  of 
them  their  last  meal. 

It  so  happened  that  the  patriots  at  the  rail  fences  stood  the  onslaught  of  battle. 
They  well  knew  how  to  handle  their  shot  guns,  but  they  were  short  of  ammunition. 
Three  or  four  times  did  the  British  charge  up  the  hill,  and  were  received  with  such 
a  raking  fire,  that  whole  columns  were  shot  down.  But  as  the  day  wore  on,  the 
American  ammunition  gave  out.  The  war  ships  in  the  harbor  had,  in  the  mean 
time,  succeeded  in  setting  Charlestown  on  fire.  The  Americans  fought  for  a  time 
at  their  fences  with  the  stocks  of  their  guns,  but  column  after  column  of  British 
soldiers  swarmed  upon  them,  and  they  had  to  retreat,  which  they  did  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  General  Warren  was  killed  at  the  redoubt  towards  the 
close  of  the  battle.  The  American  loss  was  145  killed  and  304  wounded  ;  the 
British  loss  was  more  than  double  that  of  the  Americans,  and  among  the  latter 
were  thirteen  commissioned  officers. 


150  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

THE  PRESIDENT:  Thanks.  It  was  not  surprising  that  men  who  could  hold 
their  own  for  so  long  against  so  terrific  an  onslaught,  soon  rallied,  and  before  long 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  British  leave  Boston.  Very  soon  after  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  General  Washington  reached  Cambridge,  having  been  appointed 
by  Congress  to  the  command  of  the  entire  army.  Washington  saw  the  importance 
of  the  struggle  at  Boston,  and  came  there  in  person  to  direct  the  movements  of  the 
Americans.  His  name  was  well  known  to  every  American  soldier,  and  his  arrival 
inspired  the  patriots  with  great  confidence.  Under  his  generalship  Boston  was  so 
beleaguered  and  invested  that  on  the  i;th  of  March,  1776,  General  Howe  and  his 
army  quitted  the  city,  and  the  Americans  took  possession.  And  now,  Miss  Clara, 
will  you  be  kind  enough  to  give  the  club  a  brief  historic  explanation  of  what  is 
sometimes  called  "the  great  Boston  tea-party  ?" 

CLARA:  If  I  understand  it,  the  tea-party  arose  from  a  question  of  taxation.  In 
Great  Britain  the  principle  was  thoroughly  recognized  that  the  taxes  to  be  paid  by 
the  people  were  to  be  decided  by  the  representatives  of  the  people.  In  other 
words,  taxation  and  representation  went  together.  In  the  colonies  the  people 
were  taxed  by  the  British  Parliament,  without  having  a  voice  in  the  matter.  Per- 
haps the  colonies  would  not  have  been  in  a  hurry  to  fight  over  the  principle,  if  the 
application  of  it  had  not  become  oppressive.  But  some  of  the  Taxation  Acts  of 
Parliament  were  very  heavy  upon  the  Americans.  I  must  ask  the  President  to 
help  me  over  the  details,  as  to  what  some  of  the  obnoxious  taxes  were. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Give  just  what  you  remember. 

CLARA  :  Well,  I  know  that  one  of  these  was  called  the  Stamp  Act,  which  wab 
passed— 

BERTRAM:  March,  1765. 

CLARA  :  Almost  every  kind  of  legal  document,  notes,  mortgages,  etc.,  had  to 
be  printed  on  stamped  paper  made  in  England  and  costing  from  threepence  to  five 
or  six  guineas  a  sheet.  Paper  for  newspapers,  almanacs,  pamphlets,  etc.,  was  taxed 
several  cents  a  sheet,  and  every  advertisement  in  a  newspaper  was  taxed,  I  think, 
two  shillings. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  How  did  this  lead  up  to  the  tea-party? 

CLARA  :  It  made  a  terrible  commotion  through  all  the  colonies,  and  the 
act  was  finally  repealed,  but  was  soon  after  followed  by  an  act  compelling 


A   WHITE   MOUNTAIN    GLEN. 


152  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

Americans  to  pay    a    duty    on    several    articles    of    common    use,    amongst   them 
being  tea. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  This  was  in  1767.  In  the  mean  time  the  great  Mr.  Pitt,  who 
then  sat  on  the  Opposition  side  in  the  British  Parliament,  spoke  firmly  in  favor  of 
the  colonies,  and  against  the  Stamp  Act,  and  all  similar  attempts  to  tax  the 
colonists. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  Pray,  what  excuse  did  the  British  ministry  make  for  taxing  the 
Americans  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  They  thought  that  the  colonists  ought  to  reimburse  England 
in  some  way  for  the  expenses  of  the  great  French  and  Indian  war,  which  was  just 
over.  It  was  as  though  England  had  taxed  Canada  during  the  war  of  1812.  If 
she  had  done  so  Canada  would  have  replied :  "  If  we  are  to  pay  you  for  defending 
us  we  will  raise  the  money  ourselves  in  our  own  way,  but  we  will  not  let  you  come 
and  take  the  money  out  of  our  pockets."  They  would  probably  have  added  : 
"You  must  remember  that  it  is  your  own  war,  not  ours,  though  it  is  fought  on  our 
borders."  This  was  what  the  American  colonists  thought,  and  in  effect  said. 
They  were  willing  to  pay  England  money  if  she  wanted  it,  but  they  would  not  let 
England  come  and  take  it  by  force  without  consulting  them. 

CLARA  :  But  about  the  tea-party.  When  this  new  Taxation  Act  was  passed 
there  was  another  hubbub,  of  course,  and  Massachusetts  now  came  to  the  front. 

GILBERT  :  Was  that  why  Boston  is  called  the  Hub  ? 

CLARA:  It  might  have  been,  but  it  was  not.  Massachusetts  issued  a  circular 
calling  upon  the  other  colonies  to  unite  in  an  effort  to  obtain  redress  of  griev- 
ances. Riots  took  place  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  The  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts were  declared  rebels,  and  in  Boston  the  soldiers  shot  down  several 
citizens  in  the  streets.  This  was  in  the  spring  of  1770,  for  these  disputes  and 
commotions  lasted  several  years.  At  last  the  British  Parliament  agreed  to  take 
off  all  the  obnoxious  import  taxes,  except  that  on  tea. 

JOHN  :  The  kettle  now  begins  to  boil. 

CLARA  :  But,  of  course,  this  would  not  do.  It  was  not  now  so  much  the  tax  as 
\.\\e  principle  which  was  objected  to.  No  patriotic  American  would  drink  tea.  A 
great  deal  of  it  was  sent  from  England,  but  the  people  would  not  let  it  be  landed, 
or  else  they  stored  it  up  in  damp  cellars  and  let  it  spoil.  Some  ships  came  to 


154 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


Boston  loaded  with  it.  A  great  meeting  was  held  in  the  town,  and  at  its  close 
fifty  men,  disguised  as  Indians,  rushed  to  the  wharves,  followed  by  the  crowd, 
boarded  the  ships,  and  emptied  all  the  chests  of  tea  into  the  harbor.  That  was 
the  Boston  Tea  Party — i6th  December,  1773. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Excellently  told,  Clara.  You  know  that,  in  retaliation  for 
this,  Parliament  removed  the  Custom  House  from  Boston  to  Salem,  annulled  the 
Massachusetts  charter,  and  declared  her  citizens  rebels  ;  that  a  great  Colonial 
Congress  then  assembled  at  Philadelphia  to  consider  the  situation,  and  that  the 
other  States  unanimously  agreed  to  stand  by  Massachusetts  to  the  last.  The  king 
then  sent  a  great  fleet  and  an 

/"" —  i7     —      ^X 

(  i    army  °f  ten  thousand  men  to  whip 

the  colonists  into  subjection. 

And  now,  if  you  please,  it  is 
time  for  us  to  leave  Boston  and  take  the 
train  to  the  White  Mountains.  We  go  to 
Portsmouth  by  the  Eastern  Shore  line,  passing  Lynn, 
Salem,  Marblehead,  and  Newburyport.  At  Conway 
junction  we  take  the  Mountain  Division  of  the  road, 
and  pass  Rochester,  and  so  on  to  North  Conway, 
which  we  may  call  the  southeastern  gate  of  the  White 
Mountain  domain,  and  whence  we  may  direct  our 
journeys  as  we  please.  As  I  have  only  a  few  views 
of  this  interesting  region  we  will  take  them  one  by 
one  and  let  them  suggest  to  us  such  topics  as  they  may. 

The  first  view  (p.  151)  is  of  a  general  character,  and  I  do  not  know  that  I  can 
locate  it.  It  is  of  a  rocky  glen,  densely  shaded,  through  which  we  must  pick  our 
way  carefully.  Perhaps  some  of  you,  in  future  rambles,  may  come  across  just 
this  place  ;  if  so,  you  may  recognize  it  by  the  curious  bear-shaped  rock  on  the 
right,  like  a  bruin  seated  on  its  haunches. 

In  another  picture  we  get  an  excellent  view  of  Mount  Washington  and  the 
White  Hills.  The  summit  of  Mount  Washington  is  6,293  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea,  and  is  the  highest  point  in  this  region,  or  in  any  place  in  America  east  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  excepting  some  peaks  among  the  Black  Mountains  in 


MOUNT    WASHINGTON    RAILWAY. 


SILVER    CASCADE. 


156  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

Carolina.  The  summit  of  Mount  Washington  is  occupied  as  a  meteorological 
station  by  the  United  States  Government.  There  is  also  a  summer  hotel  known 
as  Tip-top  or  Summit  House.  On  the  east  side  of  the  mountain  there  is  a  car- 
riage road,  and  on  the  west  a  railroad,  either  of  which  is  very  helpful  to  the 
tourist.  The  grade  of  this  railroad  is,  in  some  places,  one  foot  in  three,  and  the 
track  is  of  three  rails,  the  center  like  a  cog-wheel.  The  cars  are  swung  so  as  to  be 
always  horizontal.  Before  these  roads  were  built,  the  attempt  to  reach  the 
summit  was  attended  with  considerable  peril.  In  September,  1855,  a  lady  who 
was  accompanied  by  her  uncle  and  cousin,  died  of  fatigue  and  cold,  and  a  pile  of 
stones  marks  the  place  where  her  friends  kept  watch  over  her  body  through  the 
long  and  sad  night.  There  is  also  a  spot  pointed  out  where  portions  of  a 
skeleton  and  some  clothing  were  found  in  July,  1857.  These  were  afterwards 
identified  as  the  remains  of  a  gentleman  from  Delaware.  Dr.  Benjamin  Hall, 
of  Boston,  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life,  after  passing  two  nights  on  the  moun- 
tain, lost  in  an  October  storm. 

MRS.  GOLDUST  :  I  cannot  see  why  people  should  expose  themselves  to  such 
risks.  For  my  part,  grand  as  mountains  are,  I  like  the  lesser  hills  better. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  : 

"  If  thy  heart  fail  thee,  do  not  climb  at  all." 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Here  is  a  view  of  a  portion  of  Crawford's  Notch.  To  reach 
this  place  it  may  be  well  to  go  to  the  Crawford  House,  one  of  the  earliest  hostelries 
in  the  White  Mountains,  and  which  can  be  reached  by  railroad  from  North  Con- 
way.  As  cars  of  observation  are  connected  with  the  trains  running  through  this 
region,  it  is  pleasant  to  avail  oneself  of  this  means  of  travel  whenever  opportunity 
offers.  The  Notch  is  a  mountain  gorge,  with  walls  2,000  feet  high,  approaching  in 
one  particular  spot  to  within  twenty-two  feet  of  one  another.  The  brook  Saco 
run  through  it,  and  the  railroad  also  finds  room.  The  Silver  Cascade,  of 
which  our  picture  gives  a  view,  is  said  to  be  the  finest  waterfall  in  the  White 
Mountains.  The  fall  is  four  hundred  feet,  almost  perpendicular.  There  are 
numerous  other  cataracts,  cascades,  and  objects  of  romantic  interest  which  it 
would  weary  you  if  I  were  to  try  and  describe.  But  our  pictures  speak  for  them- 
selves in  this  respect. 


CHAPTER     XVI  . 


THE    WHITE    MOUNTAINS CONTINUED. 

OLONEL  WARLIKE  :  Did  I  understand  you  as  saying  on  a  former 
evening,  that  the  White  Mountains  formed  a  portion  of  the  great 
Appalachian  chain  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  No  doubt.  Speaking  in  a  general  way  they 
do,  as  when  classifying  the  leading  mountain  divisions  of  the  con- 
tinent ;  but  in  subdividing  these  great  ranges  it  is  usual  to  put  the 
White  Mountains  into  a  group  with  an  older  series  called  the  Atlantic  system, 
lying  east  of  the  Appalachians  proper,  and  including  the  Maine  mountains. 

MRS.  WARLIKE  :  What  extent  of  territory  is  covered  by  the  White  Mountains? 
THE  PRESIDEN  .  :  About  thirty   miles  from  north  to  south,  and  45  miles  from 
east  to  west,  and  within  this   region  there  are  over  200  distinct  peaks,  and  innu- 
merable mountain  gorges,  streams  and  rivulets. 

GILBERT  :  I  suppose  the  Indians  had  a  name  for  these  mountains  ? 
THE  PRESIDENT  :  Yes,  I  find  that  they  were  called  by  the  Indians  Agioco- 
chook,  signifying  "  Mountains  of  the  Snowy  Forehead  "  and  Home  of  the  Great 
Spirit.  It  is  somewhat  curious  that  while  a  great  many  of  the  streams  and  lakes 
in  New  Hampshire  retain  their  Indian  names,  it  is  very  rarely  that  we  find  a 
mountain  peak  so  honored.  In  this  region  trie  principal  mountains  are  named  af- 
ter personages  famous  in  our  own  history — Washington,  Franklin,  Monroe,  Madi- 
son, Jefferson,  etc. 

I  should  say  that  the  mountains  are  divided  into  two  clusters,  the  western, 
called  the  Franconia  Mountains,  and  the  eastern,  or  White  Mountains  proper. 
Between  these  groups  is  a  table-land  or  plateau  of  irregular  shape,  several  miles 
in  width. 

I  have  here  two  very  fine  views,  both  from  the  Franconia  group.  One  is  of  the 
Eagle  Cliff  Mountains,  as  seen  from  the  Franconia  Notch,  looking  northward. 

There  is  a  mingled  softness  and  grandeur  about  this  and  the  other  view  which 
157 


EAGLE    CLIFF,    WHITE    MOUNTAINS. 


The  IVhite  Mountains — Continued.  159 

is  especially  attractive.  The  Franconia  Notch  is  a  beautiful  mountain  pass,  five 
miles  long  and  half  a  mile  wide.  The  sides  are  bold  and  often  precipitous,  and 
crowned  with  forests.  The  Pemigewasset  River  flows  through  this  defile.  There 
is  a  charming  lake  called  Echo  Lake  near  the  north  end,  which  ought  to  be  visited. 
The  echo  from  the  center  of  the  lake  is  wonderfully  distinct,  and  of  course  there  is  the 
usual  Indian  superstition  connected  with  it,  that  the  echo  is  the  voice  of  the  Great 
Spirit.  The  second  view  is  of  the  Cannon  or  Profile  Mountain  as  seen  from  the 
Eagle  Cliff  Mountain,  looking  down  the  Notch.  From  some  points  of  view  the 
top  of  this  mountain  has  some  resemblance  to  a  mounted  cannon.  The  view  from 
the  summit  is,  of  course,  inexpressibly  grand  and  very  extensive.  From  another 
point  of  view  the  profile  of  an  old  man's  face  is  distinctly  traceable,  and  from  a 
third,  still  another  profile — that  of  an  old  woman.  It  was  this  mountain  that  sug- 
gested to  Hawthorne  his  story  in  "  Twice  Told  Tales  "  of  "  The  Great  Stone  Face." 
Here  we  also  find  another  beautiful  lake  called  "  Profile  Lake." 

LILIAN  :  Hawthorne  begins  his  story,  I  think,  by  saying  that  the  valley  over- 
looked by  this  mountain  contains  many  thousand  inhabitants. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  That  is  taking  a  kind  of  poetic  license  with  these  New  Hamp- 
shire valleys,  although  some  of  them  are  quite  populous. 

ALBERT  :  I  have  read  Hawthorne's  little  story,  and  I  confess  I  do  not  see  the 
point  of  it.  It  is  of  a  simple-minded,  virtuous  man,  growing  up  among  his  neigh- 
bors, and  all  his  life  looking  for  the  fulfillment  of  an  old  legend  that  somebody 
will  come  along  whose  face  shall  resemble  the  profile  of  the  "old  man  of  the  mount- 
ain," and  that  that  person,  whoever  he  might  be,  should  be  the  greatest  and  no- 
blest personage  of  his  time.  The  people  of  the  valley  at  length  discovered  that 
this  simple-minded  neighbor  of  theirs  was  the  man. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  suppose  that  the  moral  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  man  him- 
self never  suspected  the  likeness  nor  dreamed  that  he  was  either  great  or  noble. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  True  nobility  of  character  is,  I  suppose,  inconsistent  with  what 
is  termed  self-consciousness  or  egotism. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  The  instant  we  begin  to  imagine  we  are  great  we  betray  our 
littleness. 

DR.  PAULUS  :   "  Professing  themselves  to  be  wise  they  became  fools." 

AUNT  HARRIET:  Perhaps  there  is  another  point  in  the  story.      From  habitual 


CANNON-MOUNTAIN    CLIFF,    WHITE  MOUNTAINS 


The  IV kite  Mountains — Continued.  161 

•contemplation  of  this  natural  object,  and  from  associating  it  in  his  mind  with 
thoughts  of  virtue,  the  man  grew  up  in  the  moral  likeness  of  an  ideal  character. 
Hence  the  value  of  an  ideal,  and  of  some  outward  things  to  remind  us  of  it. 

THE  COLONEL  :   Is  there  not  a  touch  of  ritualism  there,  Miss  Victor  ? 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  Possibly,  but  I  am  not  ashamed  of  it  if  there  is.  Because  rit- 
ualism may  be  carried  to  an  absurdity  by  some  people  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
not  be  taught  through  our  senses. 

BERTRAM  :  Professor,  you  must  please  tell  us  something  of  the  geology  of  these 
mountains. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  They  are  formed  of  the  primitive  metamorphic  rocks,  with 
peaks  of  granite  and  gneiss,  but  I  have  not  yet  read  the  reports  of  Professor 
Charles  Hitchcock,  the  State  geologist,  which  I  understand  are  particularly  full 
and  valuable.  Our  time  this  evening  will,  however,  hardly  admit  of  an  excursion 
into  this  branch  of  inquiry.  Meantime  I  would  ask  if  some  member  of  the  club 
can  recite  to  us  any  portion  of  Whittier's  poem  on  White  Mountain  scenery. 

LAURA:  I  remember  some  lines  of  his  from  "  Franconia." 

"  Once  more,  O  Mountain  of  the  North,  unveil 

Your  brows,  and  lay  your  cloudy  mantles  by  ; 
And  once  more,  ere  the  eyes  that  seek  ye  fail, 

Uplift  against  the  blue  walls  of  the  sky 
Your  mighty  shapes,  and  let  the  sunshine  weave 

Its  golden  net-work  in  your  belting  woods  ; 

Smile  down  in  rainbows  from  your  falling  floods, 
And  on  your  kingly  brows,   at  morn  and  eve, 

Set  crowns  of  fire  !     So  shall  my  soul  receive, 
Haply,  the  secret  of  your  calm  and  strength, 

Your  unforgotten  beauty  interfuse 

My  common  life,  your  glorious  shapes  and  hues 
And  sun-dropped  splendors  at  my  bidding  come, 

Loom  vast  through  dreams  and  stretch  in  billowy  length 
From  the  sea  level  of  my  lowland  home. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

OTHER    PICTURESQUE    VIEWS    OF    NEW    ENGLAND. 

OR  our  entertainment  this  evening,  remarked  the  President,  it  is 
provided  that  we  make  short  flying  excursions  to  some  other  points 
in  New  England.  And  first  we  will  have  a  talk  about  Connecticut 
and  its  famous  river. 

The  history  of  Connecticut  may  be  said  to  begin  in  1630,  when 
a  grant  of  territory,  extending  from  the  southeast  coast  of   Rhode 
Island,  northward   to   the   Massachusetts  line,  and  westward  to  the  extreme  limits 
of  the  continent,  was  made  to  Lord  Warwick  by  the  Plymouth  Company. 
JOHN  :  What  was  the  Plymouth  Company? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  A  commercial  and  colonization  company  formed  in  England 
in  1606. 

JOHN  :  The  Puritans  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock  in  1620. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  This  was,  therefore,  several  years  before  the  Puritans  sailed 
for  America.  The  Plymouth  Company  and  the  London  Company  were  formed 
in  England  in  consequence  of  discoveries  in  the  western  hemisphere,  and  for  pur- 
poses of  gain.  They  obtained  Charters  from  King  James  I.,  and  sent  vessels  over 
to  America  to  settle  the  country  and  develop  its  resources  for  trade  with  Eng- 
land. The  Plymouth  Company  were  to  operate  north  of  the  forty-first  parallel  of 
latitude.  Take  the  map  and  note  that  this  runs  through  New  Jersey  and  Penn- 
sylvania. The  London  Company  were  to  operate  south  of  the  thirty-eighth  par- 
allel to  the  thirty-fourth,  comprising  part  of  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  etc.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  these  companies,  but  that  is  out  of  the 
question  now, 

MRS.  GOLDUST  :  I  always  thought  that  the  Puritans  were  the  first  white  people 
that  came  to  America. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  By  no  manner  of   means  ;  but  they  were  the  first  that  came 
and  stayed  in  the  part  we  call   New  England,  and  they  stayed  to  good  purpose,  a^ 
162 


VIEW   OF   SALMON   BROOK,    GRANBY,    CONNECTICUT. 


164  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

you    know.     They  were   the  actual  founders  of  New  England.       Let  me  see- 
where  were  we  starting  from  ? 

JOHN  :  The  grant  to  Lord  Warwick. 

THE  PRESIDENT:  Oh  yes !  This  was  in  1630,  ten  years  after  the  Puritans 
landed.  A  great  deal  had  been  done  in  those  ten  years.  Besides  the  Puritan  set- 
tlements in  Massachusetts,  the  Dutch  had  founded  New  Netherlands,  which  ran 
right  along  the  Hudson  River,  on  both  sides  almost  to  Lake  Champlain.  Just 
about  the  time  that  the  English  Puritans  sailed  up  the  Connecticut  River,  the 
Dutch,  advancing  from  the  west,  sent  their  settlers  towards  the  same  point,  and  for 
a  time  there  was  quite  a  little  flurry  as  to  who  should  possess  the  land.  Finally, 
as  you  know,  the  English  got  it.  It  was  a  beautiful  country,  with  hills  and  vales, 
rivers  and  streams,  and  fronting  to  the  south  on  the  grand  Long  Island  Sound. 
If  we  had  time,  there  are  many  lovely  spots  we  might  visit,  but  I  dare  not  invite 
you  to  stay.  Here  is  a  view  near  Granby,  in  the  center  of  the  State  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  here  is  another  beautiful  landscape,  not  in  Connecticut,  indeed,  but  in  the 
noble  valley  of  its  river  as  it  flows  through  Massachusetts  under  the  shadow  of 
Mt.  Ascutney.  Connecticut  itself  is  full  of  lovely  valleys  and  places  of  historical 
interest.  From. the  time  of  the  grant  to  Lord  Warwick  its  settlement  went  steadily 
forward,  slowly  of  course  at  first,  encountering  many  difficulties,  and  the  occasion  of 
many  political  blunders  and  sins. 

BERTRAM  :  How  comes  it  that  Connecticut  is  so  small  a  State  when  its  original 
grant  gave  it  so  much  territory  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  The  original  grantors  did  not  take  into  consideration  the 
Dutch  settlement  of  New  Netherlands,  and  in  1650  it  was  found  necessary  to  come 
to  terms  with  the  latter  colony,  and  to  fix  the  boundary  of  Connecticut  on  this 
side  of  the  Hudson,  and  subsequently  the  powerful  Duke  of  York  obtained  grants 
from  England,  and  New  York  absorbed  New  Netherlands.  In  fact,  Connecticut 
soon  found  itself  locked  within  its  present  rather  confined  but  interesting  and  very 
beautiful  territory. 

We  will  now  proceed  farther  north  to  the  State  of  Vermont,  where  we  find, 
first,  a  scene  on  the  Missisquoi  River. 

CLARA  :  Indian  name,  of  course. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  The  Missisquoi  is,  I  suppose,  the  largest  stream  in  Vermont, 


MOUNT    ASCUTNEY,    CONNECTICUT    VALLEY. 


1 66  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

and  the  scenery  through  which  it  flows,  and  of  which  it  forms  an  ever  varying  and 
delightful  feature,  is  wild,  charming  and  beautiful.  To  reach  this  river  we  should 
first  make  for  the  city  of  St.  Albans,  a  fine  town  of  some  eight  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, and  a  few  miles  east  of  Lake  Champlain.  It  is  famous  as  the  scene  of  a 
raid  from  Canada  during  the  late  civil  war. 

GRACE  :  I  would  like  to  hear  about  that. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  think  that  Mr.  Merriman  knows  all  about  it. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  I  remember  it  very  well.  There  was  a  movement  in  1864,  on 
the  part  of  the  South,  towards  raising  a  disturbance  on  the  Canadian  frontier.  It 
was  a  very  natural  thing,  from  a  military  point  of  view,  to  attempt.  Some  des- 
peradoes seized  two  American  ships  on  Lake  Erie,  and  a  small  body  of  men,  per- 
haps twenty  or  thirty,  made  a  sudden  raid  into  this  little  town,  shot  one  or  two 
men,  robbed  the  banks  of  a-  good  deal  of  money,  and  bolted  back  across  the  Can- 
adian frontier  with  their  plunder.  It  was  an  impudent  thing,  and  the  worst  of  it 
was  that  the  Canadian  judge  who  tried  these  rascals  discharged  them  on  some 
technical  grounds,  though  the  Canadian  government  had  to  make  good  the  dam- 
ages, as  far  as  it  could. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  St.  Albans  was  the  rendezvous  also  of  a  Fenian  army,  2,000 
strong,  in  1866.  This  army  invaded  Canada,  but  was  quickly  dispersed,  and  the 
foolish  men  were  right  glad  to  get  passes  from  the  American  authorities  on  the 
railroad  lines  back  to  their  homes  again. 

Eight  miles  from  St.  Albans  is  the  delightful  little  watering  place  of  Sheldon 
Springs,  the  waters  of  which  are,  I  understand,  much  sought  after.  Here  the  Mis- 
sisquoi  flows  through  a  charming  valley  with  rich  and  romantic  landscapes  on 
every  hand.  Our  view  gives  a  portion  of  the  rapids — a  characteristic  and  truthful 
sketch. 

Then  we  have  a  view  of  Mount  Mansfield  from  Rice's  Hill,  an  admirable  pic- 
ture of  the  northern  portion  of  the  Green  Mountains.  Mount  Mansfield  is  the 
loftiest  peak  of  this  range,  being  about  4,400  feet  high.  On  the  whole,  the  tour- 
ist finds  abundant  material  for  enjoyment  in  this  rural  neighborhood. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  I  see  that  these  mountains  of  Vermont  do  not  have  the  rugged 
outline  of  the  White  Mountains,  still  less  that  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

THE  PRESIDENT:  No  ;  they  are  of  smoother  and  more  rounded  appearance,  es- 


VIEW    ON    THE    MISSISQUOI    RIVER,    VERMONT. 


1 68 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


pecially  on  the  western  slopes.  At  the  termination  of  the  long  and  severe  winter 
they  come  forth  clothed  with  a  rich  green  grass,  and  this,  together  with  the  ever- 
green forests  which  abound  on  their  sides,  gives  them  their  distinguishing  name, 
which  of  course  is  the  origin  of  the  name  of  the  State  itself. 

We  now  proceed  by  the  quickest  imaginary  route  to  the  little  State  of  Rhode 


MOUNT    MANSFIELD,    MASS. 


Island,  which,  if  modern  researches  are  to  be  relied  upon,  is  the  ancient  Vinland 
discovered  by  the  Northmen  about  the  year  A.D.  1000.  The  view  before  us  is  of 
some  rocks  near  Newport,  and  one  of  its  principal  natural  objects  of  interest. 

COL.  WARLIKE  :  One  of  the   finest  fortifications  in  the   United   States  is   Fort 
Adams,  at  Newport. 


NEGRO    HFAD,    NFAVPORT. 


170  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Newport  suffered  very  severely  during  the  war  of  Independ- 
ence. The  British  and  Hessian  troops  quartered  there  were  reckless  and  brutal  in 
their  destructiveness.  In  recent  times  it  has  become  a  fashionable  and  wealthy 
watering  place. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  Was  not  Rhode  Island  founded  by  Roger  Williams,  a  Baptist 
minister  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT:  Rhode  Island  obtained  its  charter  in  1643  through  Roger 
Williams,  who  in  1635  was  banished  from  the  Massachusetts  colony  for  holding 
views  which  were  then  considered  dangerous  to  the  progress  of  the  Commonwealth. 
He  was  a  Baptist  in  principle,  though  up  to  the  time  of  his  departure  from  Mas- 
sachusetts he  was  connected  with  the  Orthodox  Church  of  that  colony. 

LAURA  :  In  what  respects  were  the  views  of  Roger  Williams  distasteful  to  the 
others  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Chiefly  in  this  respect,  that  he  denied  the  right  of  the  magis- 
trates and  civil  government  of  a  State  or  nation  to  interfere  or  adjudicate  on  ec- 
clesiastical or  spiritual  matters.  The  Puritans,  though  regarded  as  nonconformists 
in  England,  held  decidedly  Church  and  State  sentiments.  They  believed  in  try- 
ing to  make  men  good  Christians  by  force  of  law,  and  frowned  upon  the  broader 
views  of  Williams,  who  denied  the  right  of  the  civil  power  to  impose  a  religion 
upon  a  people. 

ALBERT  :  Where  did  they  banish  him  to  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  It  was  their  intention  to  send  him  back  to  England,  but  he 
gave  them  the  slip,  as  the  saying  is,  and  with  a  few  companions  fled  from  his  per- 
secutors to  the  shores  of  the  Narragansett  bay,  and,  after  a  time,  settled  down 
among  the  Indians,  purchasing  lands  from  them,  and  calling  the  place  Providence. 
He  was  a  good  man,  of  large  intellect  and  heart,  and  the  State  of  Rhode  Island, 
though  of  necessity  small,  being  limited  in  all  directions  by  prior  grants,  or  by  the 
ocean  itself,  is  a  grand  monument  to  his  life  and  principles. 

Our  tour  in  this  part  of  our  country  is  of  necessity  a  brief  one,  and  must  end 
here ;  for  though  modern  science  has  almost  annihilated  such  old-fashioned  things 
as  time  and  space,  yet  we  cannot  quite  dispense  with  the  supper-hour,  which  is  now 
upon  us.  Perhaps  on  some  future  occasion  we  may  do  more  justice  to  the  Eastern 
States. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

LAKE    GEORGE. 

AKE  George  and  the  Adirondack  region  were  at  first  chosen  for 
successive  tours.  Owing  to  a  slight  misapprehension,  two  members 
had  come  prepared  to  lead  the  tourists  through  these  very  attrac- 
tive fields  of  observation,  on  this,  the  ninth  evening,  at  the  house 
of  the  President.  As  this  was  expected  to  be  the  last  but  one  of 
the  regular  meetings  of  the  club,  and  as  the  tour  for  the  tenth  even- 
ing was  already  decided  upon,  it  was  agreed,  after  some  conversation,  to  combine 
the  two  tours  into  one  and  to  undertake  them  both.  "  This,"  remarked  somebody, 
"  is  one  of  the  advantages  connected  with  this  mode  of  traveling.  We,  are  not 
bound  by  any  of  the  fixed  and  definite  rules  of  time  or  space,  but  can  accommo- 
date these  to  our  wishes  or  dispense  with  them  altogether." 

Accordingly  Miss  Lilian  was  requested  to  conduct  the  club  to  a  brief  visit  to 
Lake  George. 

LILIAN  (reading  from  notes}  :  Lake  George  is  situated  in  Warren  county, 
New  York  State,  about  sixty  miles  north  of  Albany.  We  reach  it  from  Saratoga 
by  rail  to  Glen  Falls — to  appreciate  which  spot,  we  must  not  only  see  it  but  read 
"  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans," — and  thence  by  stage  to  Caldwell  at  the  head  of  the 
lake.  We  pass  by  the  spot  where  Col.  Williams,  the  founder  of  Williams 
College,  fell  in  battle,  Sept.  8,  1755,  and  where  a  monument  has  been  erected  to 
his  memory. 

GILBERT  :  Col.  Williams  was  leading  his  regiment  on  a  reconnoissance  of  the 
French  troops,  when  he  fell  into  an  Indian  ambuscade  and  was  shot  through  the 
head.  It  was  found  that  he  had  willed  all  his  property  to  the  support  of  a  free 
school,  and  this  was  the  foundation  of  Williams  College. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  The  monument  was  erected  in  1854  by  the  alumni  of  the 
college. 

171 


172 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


LILIAN  :  How  can  I  begin  to  describe  the  charms  of  this  lake  and  its  surround- 
ings, or  bring  before  you  the  many  interesting  historic  reminiscences  connected 
with  it  ?  I  hardly  know  how  to  begin,  and  I  am  afraid  that  I  shall  hardly  know 
how  to  end.  However,  as  our  time  is  short,  and  as  verbosity  is  forbidden  by  the 


FOURTEEN-MILE   ISLAND,    LAKE   GEORGE. 


usages  of  this  club,  I  will  draw  at  once  upon  my  portfolio,  and  while  the  pictures 
are  being  handed  about  I  will  "  say  my  say." 

First,  let  me  inform  you  that  this  is  not  a  little  lake  by  any  means.  As  com- 
pared with  any  of  the  great  lakes  of  the  north  it  is,  of  course,  very  small  ;  but  its 
thirty-six  miles  of  length  and  its  four  miles  of  breadth  at  the  widest,  form  no  incon- 


Lake  George.  173 

siderable  area.  It  is  a  good  day's  trip  to  go  by  steamer  right  along  it  and  back 
the  same  day  ;  from  Caldwell  on  the  south,  to  Baldwin  on  the  north,  where  the 
lake  finds  its  outlet,  through  Wood  Creek,  into  the  larger  waters  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  some  three  or  four  miles  distant. 

Here  there  is  a  view  of  Fourteen  Mile  Island,  or  at  least  of  a  part  of  it.  That 
is  it,  where  the  people  are  pushing  off  with  their  boat.  I  suppose  there  are  steps 
cut  somewhere  in  these  rocks,  so  that  we  can  climb  up.  This  is  a  large  island,  and 
has  a  good  hotel  upon  it.  Before  we  get  there  we  pass  a  good  many  points  of 
interest,  of  which  I  will  name  a  few.  The  general  features  of  the  scenery  are  the 
same  of  course  as  in  the  views  now  presented.  There  is  a  little  island  called 
Diamond  Island,  on  account  of  the  quartz-crystals  found  upon  it.  During  the  war 
of  Independence  a  battle  or  skirmish  took  place  on  this  island,  and  I  am  sorry  to 
say  that  the  patriots  were  beaten.  Then  there  is  Dome  Island,  where  General 
Putnam  once  encamped  his  troops  during  the  French  war.  In  fact,  it  is  astonish- 
ing how  much  history  has  been  not  written  but  made  in  this  romantic  region. 

Of  course  you  all  know  about  the  great  French  general  Montcalm.  We  might 
spend  the  whole  evening  in  following  his  footsteps  (in  imagination)  over  and 
around  these  waters. 

MRS.  GOLDUST  :  Please  let  us  hear  something  about  him. 

LILIAN  :  He  was  a  French  marquis — Marquis  de  Saint  Veran  Montcalm — and 
a  brilliant  and  successful  soldier,  trained  to  war  from  his  youth,  and  dying  on  the 
battle-field  of  Quebec  at  forty-seven  years  of  age,  in  the  service  of  his  country. 
He  was  general  commander  of  the  French  troops  during  the  French  war  in  Canada 
in  1756-60.  In  1757  he  besieged  Fort  William  Henry — the  ruins  of  which  we  can 
explore  at  the  south  end  of  this  lake — with  8,000  soldiers,  and  compelled  the  garri- 
son of  2,500,  including  women  and  children,  to  surrender  at  discretion  after  a  brave 
defense.  But  I  am  sorry  to  say  he  was  either  unable  or  unwilling,  or,  perhaps,  both 
unable  and  unwilling  to  prevent  the  Indians  who  fought  under  him  from  bar- 
barously massacring  the  entire  garrison  after  they  had  given  up  their  arms.  This 
will  always  be  a  blot  upon  his  memory.  On  the  east  shore  of  the  lake  is  Ferris's 
Bay,  where  he  marshaled  his  army  and  moored  the  boats  in  which  he  had 
descended  the  lake. 

THE  COLONEL  :  It  was  strange  that  both  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  the  two  oppos- 


174 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


ing  generals,  should  be  slain  at  that  decisive  battle  on  the  plains  of  Abraham  which 
fixed  the  destiny  of  America. 

DR.  PAULUS  :  And  quite  as  strange  the  dying  utterances  of  both  men.     Wolfe 
exclaimed,  when  he   heard   of  the  victory  of  his   soldiers  :    "  Then  I  die  happy." 


VIEW   FROM    FOURTEEN-MILE  ISLAND,    LAKE   GEORGE. 


Montcalm,  on  being  told  that  he  must  soon  die,  said  :  "  So  much  the  better  ;  I 
shall  not  live  to  see  the  surrender  of  Quebec."  I  have  sometimes  thought,  if 
a  human  soul  can  be  thus  lifted  above  the  fear  of  death  by  earthly  emotions,  how 
much  more  reasonable  to  believe  in  the  triumph  of  the  apostle  Paul  and  of  all 


Lake  George. 


175 


believers  as   expressed  in  the  words:    "Thanks  be  unto   God  who  giveth  us  the 
victory  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

LILIAN  :  Here  is  another  view  from  Fourteen  Mile  Island,  and  to  vary  the  scene 
the  artist  has  pictured  it  by  moonlight  with  very  grand  cloud  effects.  How  bold 
and  sombre  the  rocks  stand  out  in  the  foreground,  and  how  beautiful  the  shadows 
on  the  rippling  waters ! 


SABBATH-DAY   POINT,    LAKE   GEORGE. 

t 

CLARA  :  That  suggests  the  Indian  name  of  this  lake — Horicon,  or  silvery 
waters. 

LILIAN  :  The  steamer  stops  at  a  number  of  landing  places  on  both  shores, 
crossing  and  recrossing  several  times,  giving  many  picturesque  views.  At  length 
it  enters  the  Narrows,  passing  by  numerous  islets,  and  with  views  of  Black 
Mountains  and  Sugar  Loaf  Mountain  on  the  east,  and  Deer's  Leap  Mountain  on 


Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 


the    west,    and    then   we    approach    Sabbath    Day    Point,  of   which    we    have    an 
illustration. 

This  spot,  notwithstanding  its  peaceful  name,  was  the  scene  of  some  hard  fight- 
ing  in  the  war  of    Independence.     Just  why  and  when   it  was  first  called  by  this 


LONG    ISLAND,    LAKE    GEORGE. 


name  no  one  seems  to  know.  It  is  said  that  the  British  general  Abercrombie 
halted  here  over  Sunday  with  his  troops  in  1758,  before  proceeding  to  attack  Fort 
Ticonderoga  ;  but  some  authorities  say  that  the  place  was  known  by  its  present 
name  before  1758. 

After  leaving   Sabbath    Day  Point  we  pass  a  rock  called  Anthony's  Nose,  and 


Lake  George. 


177 


two  miles  farther  north  Roger's  Slide,  and  so  on  to  Baldwin,  where  there  are 
railroad  cars  in  waiting  to  take  the  tourist  northward  to  Ticonderoga  and  Lake 
Champlain.  Going  back  by  the  steamer  we  will  particularly  notice  two  fine  views, 
of  which  we  have  a  representation — Long  Island  and  the  Cat  Mountain. 

GILBERT  :  I  understand  that  Roger's  Slide  is  so  named  because  a  Major  Rogers, 


CAT   MOUNTAIN,    LAKE   GEORGE. 


when  pursued  by  Indians  during  the  French  war,  slid  down  the  rock.  It  was 
winter  time  and  the  water  was  frozen  over,  so  that  he  contrived  to  escape  over 
the  ice. 

MR.  GOLDUST:  That  reminds  me  of  the  story  of  a  hunter  in  California  who 


178  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

thought  to  save  time  by  sliding  on  a  log  down  the  face  of  a  mountain.  When 
half  way  down  he  espied  a  bear  standing  direct  in  his  course,  and  eagerly  watching 
him.  The  man  was  perfectly  helpless,  and,  as  he  flew  down,  his  log  struck  the 
bear — and  bear,  man,  and  log  were  carried  headlong,  in  a  medley,  to  the  bottom. 
Finally  the  hunter  had  the  pleasure  of  cutting  up  the  bear  and  carrying  his  skin 
home,  but  it  was  a  serious  question  at  one  time  who  would  come  out  best,  bear 
or  man. 

THE  COLONEL  :  That  is  a  good  hunter's  yarn,  but  quite  as  wonderful  things  do 
happen  in  the  Sierra  Mountains. 

KATE  :  When  was  Lake  George  discovered  ? 

LILIAN  :  By  the  French  early  in  the  1 7th  century,  and  it  was  named  by  the 
English  after  king  George  II.  Its  Indian  name  was  Andiatarocte,  or,  "the  place 
where  the  lake  closes."  The  name  "  Horicon  "  is  given  it  by  Cooper,  probably 
because  the  Iroquois  tribe  was  sometimes  called  the  Horiconi. 

THE  COLONEL  :  Does  any  member  of  the  club  know  who  this  Major  Rogers 
was  of  whom  we  have  heard  ? 

BERTRAM  :  He  was  Robert  Rogers  of  New  Hampshire.  He  offered  to  scout 
the  woods  with  a  battalion  of  men  to  be  called  rangers,  and  he  saw  some  rare 
fighting. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  have  listened  with  very  great  interest  to  these  reminiscences, 
but  at  the  same  time  I  cannot  express  how  sadly  I  feel  when  I  associate  these  fair 
and  lovely  scenes  with  so  much  human  bloodshed.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
butchery  of  man  by  his  brother  man,  when  there  is  so  much  of  sadness  and  misery 
in  life  without  it,  is  a  blot  upon  the  human  intellect.  With  life  so  short  at  best, 
and  often  so  full  of  sorrow,  the  very  thought  of  war  and  murder  is  appalling. 

MRS.  GOLDUST  :  The  whole  of  creation  is,  according  to  the  Apostle,  groaning 
and  travailing  for  redemption.  I  suppose  humanity  has  not  yet  found  what  it 
seeks. 

MR.  HARVEY  :  What  an  inspiring  thought  that  the  wrong  shall  be  righted  and 
the  mystery  explained  by  and  by. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  "  When  the  sword  shall  be  turned  into  the  plowshare  and  the 
spear  into  the  pruning  hook,  and  nations  shall  learn  war  no  more." 

THE  COLONEL  :  To  me  that  time  seems  farther  off  than  ever. 


Lake  George.  179 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  I  always  enjoy  singing  the  hymn  : 

"  We  are  watching,  we  are  waiting 

For  the  bright  prophetic  day, 
When  the  shadows,  weary  shadows, 

From  the  world  shall  roll  away. 
We  are  watching,  we  are  waiting 

For  the  star  that  brings  the  day 
When  the  night  of  sin  shall  vanish 

And  the  shadows  melt  away." 

DR.  PAULUS  :  God  grant  that  we  may  all  see  that  day  and  rejoice. 

MRS.  MERRIMAN  :  It  seems  hardly  possible,  however,  that  war  can  ever  again 
visit  these  peaceful  scenes.  For  the  present  and  for  all  the  future  they  appear  to 
be  dedicated  to  peaceful  occupation  and  the  rest  and  refreshment  of  weary  toilers. 
A  hundred  years  does  not  seem  so  very  long  ago,  and  yet  in  that  time  the  character 
of  this  region  has  been  completely  changed. 

THE  COLONEL  :  Greatly  as  I  deplore  the  horrors  of  war,  I  sometimes  think  that 
it  is  by  no  means  the  worst  enemy  of  mankind. 

ALBERT  :  "  Better  to  die  with  glory,  than  recline 

On  the  soft  lap  of  ignominious  peace  !  " 

The  COLONEL  :  Exactly,  and  then  we  must  remember  that  war,  as  an  extreme 
resort,  is  often  a  national  duty.  It  is  a  duty  for  the  American  government  to  defend 
the  settlers  on  the  frontier  from  the  attacks  of  the  savages.  I  admit,  of  course, 
the  many  wrongs  which  have  been  done  to  the  Indians. 

AUNT  HARRIET  :  At  least  three-fourths  of  the  wars  that  have  arisen  on  earth 
have  been  disgraceful  to  the  humanity  and  common  sense  of  all  concerned  ;  but  I 
cannot  penetrate  the  mystery  of  sin,  and  I  do  not  know  that  any  of  us  can  do 
more  than  simply  let  our  lives,  with  whatever  of  influence  they  are  crowned,  preach 
forth  the  doctrine  of  love  and  brotherhood,  and  then  hope  in  God  for  the  rest. 

LILIAN  :  Meanwhile,  my  dear  Aunt,  may  we  not  rejoice  in  the  glory  God  sends 
around  us  in  these  beautiful  summer  days  of  life  ?  May  we  not  draw  from  such 
scenes  as  we  have  been  visiting  a  lesson  of  trust  in  the  workings  of  Divine  Provi- 


i8o  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

dence,  notwithstanding  the  gloom  and  the  storm  through  which  we  must  sometimes 
pass  ?  I  would  like,  before  leaving  this  beautiful  lake  in  its  mountain  setting,  to 
quote  a  few  verses  from  Whittier's  "  Summer  by  the  Lakeside"  : 

"  O  isles  of  calm  !  O  dark  still  wood  ! 
And  stiller  skies  that  overbrood 
Your  rest  with  deeper  quietude  ! 


"  Farewell  !  around  this  smiling  bay 

Gay  hearted  Health  and  Life  in  bloom, 
With  lighter  steps  than  mine,  may  stray 
In  radiant  summers  yet  to  come. 

"  But  none  shall  more  regretful  leave 

These  waters  and  these  hills  than  I : 
Or,  distant,  fonder  dream  how  eve 
Or  dawn  is  painting  wave  and  sky  ; 

"  How  rising  moons  shine,  sad  and  mild, 

On  wooded  isle  and  silvering  bay  ; 
Or  setting  suns  beyond  the  piled 

And  distant  mountains  lead  the  day.     ' 


* 


•"  O  watched  by  Silence  and  by  Night, 
And  folded  in  the  strong  embrace 
Of  the  great  mountains,  with  the  light 
Of  the  sweet  heavens  upon  thy  face, 

"  Lake  of  the  Northland  !  keep  thy  dower 

Of  beauty  still,  and,  while  above 
Thy  solemn  mountains  speak  of  power, 
Be  thou  the  mirror  of  God's  love  !  " 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

N 

THE    ADIRONDACKS. 

ILBERT  :  I  dare  not  attempt  to  give  you  a  description  of  the  Adi- 
rondack wilderness,  for  I  am  not  going  to  write  a  book ;  but  I  have 
half  a  dozen  views  which  will  occupy  us  probably  during  the  rest  of 
this  evening. 

You  all  know  where  to  find  this  great  region  on  the  map.  It  is 
in  itself  almost  a  kingdom  for  extent,  and  its  sovereign  is  Nature.  It 
is  too  rugged,  too  wild,  too  far-off  from  the  routes  of  business  traffic,  and  perhaps 
of  too  little  value  in  a  mineral  sense  to  become  a  "hive  of  industry."  It  is  a  vast, 
mountainous,  lumbering,  and  fishing  country,  a  hundred  miles  by  one  hundred  and 
fifty  in  extent,  and,  a  generation  ago,  was  trodden  only  by  the  hunter,  the  trapper, 
and  the  lumberman.  It  has  no  sites  in  it  for  great  cities ;  its  rivers  are  mountain 
streams  ;  its  roads  are  bridle  paths  or  tangled  and  rocky  footways.  Its  carriages 
are  the  lightest  of  boats,  one  of  which  will  carry  two  or  three  people  on  the  lakes 
and  streams,  and  can  then  be  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  a  man  until  it  is  again 
needed,  which  will  be  before  long,  you  may  be  sure.  Its  hackmen  are  guides  at  two 
or  three  dollars  a  day,  all  found.  As  travelers  in  the  Adirondacks  live  mostly  on 
the  fish  they  catch  and  the  deer  they  shoot  down,  the  actual  money  cost  of  living 
per  head  is  not  very  great.  But  then  it  is  necessary  that  somebody  in  the  party 
should  know  how  to  fire  a  gun  and  handle  a  fishing  rod.  Mere  book-learning, 
college  degrees,  polished  manners,  and  even  money,  will  not  suffice  to  obtain  a 
meal  for  one  hungry  man,  not  to  say  several  people.  If  ladies  accompany  the 
party,  as  they  sometimes  do,  they  must  put  aside  the  attire  of  the  city  and  don  a 
costume  half  Mohammedan  and  half  modern — short  dresses,  Turkish  drawers  that 
fasten  tightly  at  the  ankle,  thick  boots,  felt  hat,  buckskin  gloves,  and  armlets  to  fas- 
ten tightly  at  the  wrist.  They  will  then  be  comparatively  mosquito  proof,  a  very 
necessary  point — for  even  one  mosquito  or  forest  fly  may  prove  a  formidable  enemy. 

181 


1 82  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

To  those  who  cannot  sleep  except  upon  a  regulation  bed  under  a  ceiling,  and  to 
whom  the  daily  newspaper  is  a  necessity  of  existence,  there  are  hotels  here  and 
there  in  which  the  tourist  can  find  everything  to  his  hand  ;  but  to  understand  life 
in  the  Adirondacks  one  has  to  step  outside  of  these  conventional  habits,  to  learn 
how  to  launch  and  paddle  one's  own  canoe,  to  hunt,  to  fish,  to  build  one's  own 
camp  at  evening  by  some  rippling  brook,  or  on  the  shores  of  a  still  lake,  to  light  a 
camp  fire,  and  to  sleep  serenely,  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  upon  a  couch  of  twigs.  And 
it  is  wonderful  how  soon  one  gets  not  only  accustomed  to  but  even  enamored  of  this 
sort  of  life.  The  days  and  weeks  glide  by  ;  "  the  world  recedes  and  disappears  ;  " 
the  stars  become  strangely  familiar  to  us  through  the  forest  trees  ;  the  face  and 
hands  grow  tawny  ;  dyspepsia  and  headache  fly  away  ;  and  when  the  time  comes 
for  returning  to  civilization  and  business  it  is  with  no  little  regret  that  one  turns 
away  from  this  unkempt  but  salubrious  and  attractive  wilderness. 

I  have  here  a  beautiful  picture  of  Preston  Pond.  Near  by  is  a  rugged  Indian 
pass  through  which  the  hunters  and  trappers  have  long  traveled  from  north  to  south. 
We  may  now  consider  ourselves  in  the  very  heart  and  center  of  the  Adirondacks. 
Can  you  conceive  of  anything  more  solitary,  stupendous,  grand,  and  yet  inviting 
to  the  tourist  in  search  of  these  features  in  Nature  ?  We  have  not  here  the 
ruggedness  of  outline  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  nor  their  immense  elevation,  and 
their  eternal  snows  ;  and  yet  I  do  not  know  but  that,  in  some  respects,  I  prefer  such 
scenery  as  this.  These  mountain  peaks  are  high  enough  to  climb  for  me.  Some 
of  them  are  over  five  thousand  feet  high,  and  there  are  five  ranges  of  them — over 
five  hundred  mountains,  and  over  a  thousand  lakes  embosomed  among  them,  with 
a  vast,  rugged,  silent  forest,  seemingly  immeasurable — that  is  to  say,  when  you  are 
living  in  it ;  and  deer  and  other  game  innumerable,  besides  fish  in  plenty. 

I  do  not  know  whether  Longfellow  ever  spent  a  fortnight  in  the  Adirondacks, 
but  I  think  there  is  much  force  and  feeling  in  his  words — though  I  cannot  speak 
from  experience  of  any  wearing  sorrows  or  hard  work  : 

"  If  thou  art  worn  and  hard  beset 
With  sorrows  that  thou  wouldst  forget 
If  thou  wouldst  read  a  lesson  that  will  keep 
Thy  heart  from  fainting  and  thy  soul  from  sleep, 


PRESTON   PONDS. 


184  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

Go  to  the  woods  and  hills  !  No  tears 
Dim  the  sweet  look  that  Nature  wears." 

What  do  you  say  to  that,  Aunt  Harriet  ? 

AUNT  HARRIET:  From  one  point  of  view  the  poet  is  correct,  but  I  do  not 
altogether  agree  with  him.  Nature  does  sometimes  wear  anything  but  a  sweet 
look,  and  to  me  she  often  brings  thoughts  of  sadness,  though  I  do  not  know  that  I 
love  her  the  less  on  that  account. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  We  go  to  Nature  in  all  our  moods  for  sympathy,  and  we  get 
it.  In  the  morning  of  life,  or  when  the  heart  is  full  of  joy  and  ecstasy,  the  flowers  of 
the  field,  the  trees  of  the  forest,  and  the  stars  of  heaven  seem  to  rejoice  with  us  ; 
and  I  think  that  in  sorrow  and  sadness  Nature  is  no  less  sympathetic. 

CLARA  :  Is  it  not  Mrs.  Hemans  who  says  : 

" An  undertone 


Was  given  to  Nature's  harp,  for  me  alone 
Whispering  of  grief." 

GILBERT  :  St.  Regis  Lake,  which  is  shown  in  our  second  illustration,  is  situated 
in  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  Adirondacks.  There  are  two  lakes  of  this  name, 
upper  and  lower,  and  also  a  mountain  peak  ;  and  this  is  a  favorite  spot  for  hunters 
and  fishermen. 

ALBERT  :  What  kind  of  deer  are  to  be  found  in  the  Adirondacks  ? 

GILBERT  :  There  are  a  few  moose,  but  they  are  getting  scarce.  The  common 
deer  of  the  forest  is  like  that  shown  in  the  picture.  Let  me  s.ee — it  is  called 
Cariacus  Virginianus.  It  is  over  five  feet  long  from  nose  to  tail.  It  is  a  very 
beautiful,  and  in  death  a  very  useful  animal.  The  venison  is  excellent  eating,  and 
its  skin  and  horns  are  valuable.  Its  sinews  are  made  into  bow-strings  and  snow- 
shoes'  netting.  In  the  daytime  it  is  hard  to  find,  but  at  evening  it  conies  to  the 
streams  and  lake-side  to  drink,  and  so  gets  within  range. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  There  are  game-laws  regulating  the  hunting  of  this  animal. 

THE  COLONEL:  Oh  yes.  The  hunting  season  lasts  from  September  ist  to 
November  30 — three  months,  and  it  is  illegal  to  hunt  them  with  dogs.  They  are 
.  said  by  hunters  to  be  growing  scarcer  every  year,  though  still  fairly  abundant. 


The  Adirondacks. 


185 


GILBERT  :  Here  is  a  charming  view  on  the  river  Ausable,  at  a  point  near  which 
it  enters  the  upper  Ausable  Lake.  This  river  with  its  branches  flows  in  a  general 
northeasterly  direction  through  scenery  of  the  wildest  and  most  romantic  character, 
and  ultimately  falls  into  Lake  Champlain.  There  are  some  fine  cataracts  along  this 


DEER   ON   LAKE   ST.    REGIS — NIGHT. 


stream,  for  instance  the  Alice  Falls  near  Keeseville,  and  the  Birmingham  Falls 
(not  a  very  romantic  name)  where  it  plunges  over  rocks  seventy  feet  high,  in  a 
semicircle  of  great  beauty.  Then  we  come  to  the  Horse-Shoe  Falls,  and  so  on  to 
Ausable  Chasm,  a  very  picturesque  spot,  where  the  gorge  narrows  to  a  few  feet, 


1 86 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


with  high  cliffs  on  each  side,  and  glens  with  brooks  and  little  cataracts  branching 
out  in  all  directions. 

MR.  GOLDUST:  What  are  the  principal  fish  caught  in  the  Adirondacks? 


MORNING   ON   THE  AUSABLE. 


GILBERT  :  Trout  of  all  sizes,  from   small   speckled  trout  to  twenty-pound  lake 
trout.     You  can  find  them  in  the  stony  mountain  brooks,  and  among  the  lily-pads 


The  Adirondacks. 


skirting  the  edge  of  the  lakes  and  ponds,  and  large  trout  in  June  and  July  in  the 
spring  holes  and  deeper  ponds.     The  best  time  to  catch  them  is  at  sunrise  and  sunset. 
THE  PRESIDENT  :  That  is  a  convenient  arrangement  for  the  tourist. 


THE   GLEN. 


GILBERT  :  Certainly,  as  fresh  trout  from   the  lake  or  brook  is  no  mean  dish  I 
assure  you,  especially  with  a  mountain  appetite  for  sauce. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  Does  not  Mr.  Murray,  in  his  famous  book,  speak  of  his  experi- 


1 88 


Picturesque  Joiirs  in- America. 


ences  as  an  angler  ?     I  think  he  says  that  he  caught  a  hundred  brook  trout  in  less 
than  an  hour,  weighing  from  a  quarter  of  a  pound  to  two  pounds  and  a  half. 

GILBERT  :  He  must  have  had  unusual  luck. 

THE  COLONEL  :  You  must  go  to  the  Maine  forests  if  you  would  catch  fine  trout. 


LAKE    HENDERSON. 


MR.  MERRIMAN  :  It  is  several  years  ago  since  I  paid  my  first  and  as  yet  only 
visit  to  the  Adirondacks,  in  company  with  two  friends.     We  found  our  way  by  a 
mountain  wagon  road  from  Ticonderoga  to  the  northern  end  of  Schroon  Lake,  and 
to  Schroon  River,  where  we  stayed  a  few  days  at  an  inn  kept  by  a  man  named  Root- 
la  real  good  fellow  and  a  real  good  country  inn.      Mr.  Root  then  drove  us  in  a  wagon 


The  Adirondacks. 


189 


and  team  to  the  head  of  Lake  Sanford,  which  is  the  one  spot  in  the  Adirondacks 
worked  by  miners.  The  enterprise  did  not  succeed,  by  reason  chiefly,  I  believe,  of 
the  cost  of  transport,  for  there  is,  no  doubt,  plenty  of  iron  ore.  Here  we  stayed 
for  a  day  or  two  and  then  tramped  to  Lake  Henderson. 


UPPER   AUSABLE   LAKE. 


We  crossed  this  beautiful  lake  in  a  scow,  and  made  our  way  through  the  forests 
to  the  Preston  Ponds,  of  which  we  have  heard  this  evening,  and  in  the  neighbor- 


igo  Picturesque  Tottrs  in  America. 

hood  of  which  we  stayed  several  days.  I  would  like  to  repeat  this  tour  with  the 
same  companions,  or  with  any  pleasant  friends  who  enjoy  out-of-door  exercise. 

GILBERT  :  Our  last  view  is  of  the  upper  Ausable  Lake.  There  is  a  great  con- 
trast between  the  upper  and  lower  lakes  of  this  name.  The  latter  is  grand  and 
almost  awful  in  some  of  its  features.  The  mountains  rise  precipitously  from  the 
water's  edge,  sometimes  six  or  eight  hundred  feet  high,  with  streams  and  cataracts 
and  many  a  gnarled  and  uprooted  tree.  The  upper  lake,  on  the  other  hand, 
nestles  peacefully  in  the  forest  with  gentle  slopes  receding  from  its  banks,  and 
distant  mountains  lending  stately  grandeur  to  the  scene. 

And  now  I  must  stop,  for  my  portfolio  is  empty.  I  have  not  told  you  of  the 
Saranac  River  and  lakes,  nor  of  the  Raquette  River  with  its  magnificent  lake  from 
which  it  issues,  and  its  course  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles  to  the  St.  Lawrence 
River;  nor  of  a  thousand  other  rivers,  lakes,  mountains,  and  valleys,  which  cover 
this  glorious  region.  Neither  have  I  time  to  speak  of  the  natural  history  of  the 
Adirondacks,  its  birds,  its  flora,  and  its  geology.  I  must  plead  that  my  knowledge 
on  these  points  is  extremely  limited  ;  but  if  I  should  have  the  good  fortune  to 
address  the  club  on  a  future  occasion,  I  may  have  more  information  to  impart  on 
these  interesting  subjects. 

The  meeting  then  became  informal,  and  after  refreshments,  music,  and  social 
converse,  was  in  due  season  brought  to  a  close. 


CHAPTER    XX. 


THE    HUDSON    RIVER    AND    THE    CATSKILLS. 

!HE  tenth  tour  was  held  at  the  house  of  the  President. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  It  falls  to  my  lot  to  mention  a  few  pictur- 
esque places  on  the  Hudson,  and  to  conduct  you  to  the  Catskill 
Mountains. 

Almost  from  our  starting  point  in  New  York,  ascending  the 
stream,  v/e  are  impressed  with  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  sur- 
roundings. On  the  left  we  soon  reach  the  commencement  of  the  peculiar  rock 
formation  known  as  The  Palisades,  from  a  fancied  resemblance,  I  suppose,  to  a 
palisade  fence.  These  Palisades  constitute  one  of  the  most  interesting  features  in 
the  river  scenery.  They  extend  over  twenty  miles.  There  is  an  irregular  columnar- 
like  precipice  springing  from  a  sloping  bank  of  shale  and  debris,  the  slope  and  the 
top  of  the  ridge  in  some  parts  being  covered  with  a  forest. 

The  geologic  features  of  this  ridge  have  often  puzzled  geologists.  The  rock  is 
granite — Lossing  calls  it  a  projecting  trap  dyke — lying  upon  a  bed  of  sandstone, 
so  that  here  we  have  a  reversal  of  the  usual  order  of  things,  the  sandstone  being  a 
much  later  formation.  To  what  freaks  of  nature,  and  to  what  period  of  time,  this 
reversal  of  things  is  due,  is  an  interesting  topic  which,  with  similar  phenomena  in 
other  parts  of  the  world,  early  arrests  the  attention  of  those  who  study  geology. 
But  the  result  in  this  instance  is  one  which  has  been  strikingly  useful,  for  it  so 
happens  that  these  Palisades  and  the  mountains  of  which  they  form  the  river 
frontage,  furnish  to  New  York  city  the  stones  which  are  used  in  her  street  pave- 
ments. The  rocks  are  blasted,  and  then  the  blocks  are  hewn  by  chisel  and  mallet 
into  cubes,  or  solid  squares,  and  shipped  by  the  contractors  to  the  city.  They 
make  the  very  best  of  street  pavements — the  only  one  that  will  stand  the  immense 
traffic  of  the  city,  with  its  continual  "  tramp,  tramp"  of  iron  hoofs,  and  the  ceaseless 
roll  of  countless  wheels  bearing  merchandise  and  people  along  its  thoroughfares. 
I  should  state  that  these  Palisades  are  in  many  places  300  feet  high.  Here 

191 


PINNACLES    OF    THE    PALL1SADES. 


The  Hudson  River  and  the  Caf skills.  193 

is  a  very  fine  view  of  one  of  the  boldest  portions  of  them,  called  "  The 
Pinnacles." 

If  I  were  to  attempt  to  give  the  historic  features  which  make  this  river  so  inter- 
esting, I  should  have  to  expand  this  tour  into  several.  Opposite  the  northern 
limit  of  the  Palisades  is  Piermont,  with  its  mile-long  pier ;  and  three  miles  south  is 
Tappan,  where  Major  Andre  was  executed.  A  few  miles  farther  on  the  east  side 
is  Irvington,  named  after  Washington  Irving,  and  near  by  is  Sunnyside,  where  he 
lived.  Of  course,  every  young  American  soon  learns  the  place  in  literature  filled 
by  this  pleasing  author.  His  literary  career  extended  over  about  the  first  half  of 
this  century. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  I  was  amused  with  the  half  contemptuous  manner  in  which 
Thomas  Carlyle  disposes  of  Irving  in  his  Reminiscences.  He  speaks  of  Irving  being 
in  Paris  at  the  time  Carlyle  visited  that  city,  says  he  was  a  kind  of  a  lion  at  that  time^ 
and  that  he  (Carlyle)  had  "  a  mild  esteem  of  the  good  man."  I  think  that  is  his 
expression. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Carlyle  had  an  unfortunate  habit  of  writing  down  his  own 
hasty  and  dyspeptic  conclusions,  as  if  they  were  more  or  less  inspired,  and  he  has 
tarnished  his  own  grand  reputation  by  so  doing.  He  had  a  keen  eye  for  the  weak- 
nesses of  men,  and  in  his  brusque  way,  often  held  them  forth  to  ridicule  or  condem- 
nation, forgetful  of  their  merits.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  we  cannot,  as  I  intended, 
have  a  little  further  conversation  about  this  good  man  Irving. 

The  next  point  we  come  to  in  the  order  of  our  march  is  West  Point,  a  place  of 
great  natural  beauty  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river.  It  is  also  of  great  national  and 
historic  interest  and  importance,  besides  being  the  site  of  a  great  military  academy. 
I  hardly  like  to  pass  Tarrytown  by  without  a  reference.  We  know  that  Major 
Andre  was  arrested  here,  Sept.  23d,  1780.  Every  American  schoolboy  knows  the 
history  of  this  man,  and  the  circumstances  attending  his  death. 

MR.  GOLDUST  :  And  I  imagine  that  the  idea  of  building  a  monument  to  his 
memory  on  American  soil,  however  well  intentioned,  will  never  be  tolerated  by  our 
people. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  do  not  wonder  at  it.  Admitting  his  courage  and  accomplish- 
ments, he  aimed  a  most  deadly  blow,  in  the  service  of  his  sovereign,  at  American 
liberties,  and  it  seemed  almost  a  special  interposition  of  Providence  which  frustrated 


194  Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 

his  plans.  There  is  this,  however,  to  be  said  in  extenuation  of  Andre ;  he  never  in- 
tended, when  starting  on  his  journey  to  meet  Arnold,  to  enter  the  American  lines  as  a 
spy.  He  was  to  meet  General  Arnold  on  neutral  ground,  and  arrange  the  details  of 
a  surrender,  proposed  and  planned  by  Arnold.  The  attempt  to  meet  Arnold  failed 
twice.  Finally  Mr.  Joshua  Smith,  of  Long  Clove,  just  above  Haverstraw,  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  river,  went  in  a  small  boat  in  the  night-time  with  two  boatmen  to 
the  British  ship  Vulture,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  carrying  a  message  to  Major  Andre, 
who  returned  with  them,  and  met  Arnold  at  Long  Clove.  After  a  long  conversa- 
tion together  in  the  woods,  Andre  was  anxious  to  return  to  the  V^llture,  but  the 
two  boatmen  would  not  take  him  back.  Possibly  something  had  aroused  their 
suspicions,  although  General  Arnold's  presence  seemed  to  be  a  sufficient  guarantee ; 
but  they  pleaded  danger,  and  stubbornly  refused  to  go.  So  the  principals  ad- 
journed to  Smith's  house,  and  there,  over  breakfast,  completed  their  plans  for  the 
surrender  on  September  26,  four  days  later,  of  West  Point,  the  key  of  the  Hudson 
and  the  great  stronghold  and  storehouse  of  the  Americans.  This  was  Sept.  22d. 
During  the  forenoon  Arnold  entered  his  barge  and  sailed  up  the  river  to  his  head- 
quarters. Andre  waited  until  evening  and  then,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Smith, 
crossed  the  Hudson  at  Stony  Point  by  the  regular  ferry,  and  with  Arnold's  pass,, 
made  out  in  favor  of  John  Anderson,  in  his  hand,  went  through  the  American 
lines  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  Smith  here  left  Andre,  and  the  latter  pursued 
his  way  alone  on  horseback.  Coming  to  a  fork  in  the  road  he  turned  to  the 
right  through  Sleepy  Hollow,  and  when  within  half  a  mile  of  the  British  outposts 
fell  into  the  hands  of  three  patriots,  who  stopped  him  and  discovered  in  his  boots 
some  treasonable  papers  which  he  had  obtained  from  Arnold. 

MR.  MERRIMAN  :  What  were  Arnold's  motives  in  planning  this  treachery  ? 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  It  is  hard  to  fathom  them.  He  was  doubtless  chagrined  at. 
having  been  censured  for  some  irregular  action  in  the  army,  and  on  account  of  the 
failure  of  some  claims  of  his  upon  Congress.  Perhaps  also  he  miscalculated  the 
issues  of  the  contest,  and  was  desirous  of  being  on  the  winning  side.  At  any 
rate  he  showed  himself  to  be  utterly  without  principle,  although  he  had  previously 
fought  well  and  earned  distinction  as  a  soldier. 

We  now  steam  up  the  river,  passing  Stony  Point  with  its  history,  also  leaving 
Peekskill  on  the  east,  and  grand  old  Donderberg — Thunder  Mountain — on  the 


The  Hudson  River  and  the  Cat  skills..  195 

west.  Anthony's  Nose  is  also  seen  to  our  right — a  very  prominent  feature  in  the 
landscape,  the  meaning  of  which  is  duly  set  forth  in  Irving's  curious  "  History  of 
New  York."  We  are  now  going  through  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  most  picturesque  scenery.  We  pass  lona  Island,  with  its  vineyards, 
and  (on  the  right)  Sugar  Loaf  Mountains  and  Fort  Independence.  Buttermilk 
Falls  come  into  view  on  the  left,  and  then  West  Point. 

LILIAN  :  You  have  omitted  Clinton  and  Montgomery  forts,  and  have  said 
nothing  about  the  old  chain  or  boom  across  the  river  at  this  spot. 

THE  PRESIDENT  :  Simply  because  we  have  not  time  to  refer,  even  in  passing,  to 
all  the  interesting  places.  The  scenery  at  West  Point  is  very  beautiful,  and  it 
would  pay  us  to  land  and  ascend  to  the  ruins  of  old  Fort  Putnam,  which  can  be 
seen  on  the  heights  from  the  river.  Bull  Hill  and  Breakneck  Hill,  and  other 
features  of  the  landscape  come  and  go.  We  pass  Fort  Constitution  on  the  right, 
Cornwall  landing  and  Newburg  on  the  left,  Poughkeepsie  on  the  right,  and 
opposite  this  beautiful  city  we  see  New  Paltz  landing,  at  which,  if  we  so  please,  we 
can  disembark,  and  proceed  by  stage  to  the  charming  Lake  Mohawk,  where  we 
may  very  enjoyably  pass  a  few  days  before  extending  our  trip  to  the  Cats- 
kills. 

These  mountains  cover  a  territory  of  at  least  thirty  miles  square,  comprising,  of 
course,  numerous  towns  and  villages.  Geologically  they  present  the  same  general 
features  as  the  Alleghanies  of  Pennsylvania  ;  but  they  differ  from  the  latter  in  the 
important  particular  that  the  peculiar  dips  in  the  strata  shut  out  the  possibility  of 
coal  beds  being  discovered.  The  Catskill  region  will  never,  therefore,  possess  a 
mining  character.  It  will  remain  for  all  time  a  roaming  ground  for  the  tourist  in 
search  of  health  and  recreation,  the  botanist,  the  artist,  and  the  lover  of  nature. 
Many  of  the  mountains  are  clothed  with  forest :  but  over  vast  tracts  the  hills  stand 
out  in  desolate  and  naked  outline,  enclosing  plateaus  in  which  villages  have 
sprung  up  for  the  entertainment  and  care  of  the  tourist.  From  these  places  excur- 
sions to  different  points  of  interest  are  organized — sometimes  on  foot,  sometimes  in 
carriages.  But  it  is  now  impossible  for  us  to  visit  a  tithe  of  the  sights  worth 
seeing. 

Here  is  a  glimpse  of  a  view  from  Sunset  Rock,  which  suggests  Wordsworth's 
descriptive  lines  : 


196 


Picturesque  Tours  in  America. 


"  O,  'twas  an  unimaginable  sight  ! 

Clouds,  mists,  streams,  watery  rocks,  and  emerald  turf, 
Clouds  of  all  tincture,  rocks  and  sapphire  sky, 
Confused,  commingled,  mutually  inflamed, 
Molten  together,  and  composing  thus 

Each  lost  in  each, 

*  *  *  * 

'  Below  me  was  the  earth  :  this  little  vale 
Lay  low  beneath  my  feet  ;  'twas  visible — 
I  saw  not,  but  I  felt  that  it  was  there." 


SUNSET    ROCK,    CATSKILL    MOUNTAINS. 


We  have  two  more  cuts  illustrating  different  features  of  Catskill  scenery,  and 
with  these  we  must  close  this  series  of  tours.  The  Artist's  Grotto  is  a  water-worn 
cave,  well  worth  a  visit.  The  other  scene  is  suggestive  of  a  hundred  different 
ravines,  where  the  mountains  are  hidden  from  sight,  and  where — the  rippling  waters 
at  our  feet,  and  the  forest  about  us  and  above  us — we  may  drink  to  the  full  of  the 
enjoyment  of  solitude. 


ARTIST'S  GROTTO,  CATSKILL. 


198  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

Among  many  pleasure-trips  in  this  region,  I  would  remember  a  walk  or  ride 
from  Palenville  up  the  new  turnpike  road  to  the  Hotel  Kaaterskill — two  hours  of 
steady  climbing,  gorge  after  gorge,  hill  after  hill,  until  the  great  hotel  on  the  crest 
of  the  mountain  comes  into  view,  with  its  crowds  of  visitors  sitting  on  the  broad 
piazzas,  or  walking  on  the  noble  terraces,  in  full  enjoyment  of  the  rare  and  breezy 
atmosphere,  and  of  the  magnificent  views,  and  the  whole  bursting  upon  one,  after 
the  solitary  pilgrimage,  like  a  fairy  creation  or  a  new  world. 

I  shall  never,  too,  forget  the  drive  from  Tannersville  to  Phoenicia,  through  Stony 
Clove,  a  great  rift  fifteen  miles  long,  through  mountains  three  or  four  thousand 
feet  high.  Here  the  air  was  delightfully  cool  on  the  hottest  day  of  a  hot  season, 
no  damp,  and  no  mosquitoes  either.  In  some  of  the  deeper  crevices  thin  layers  of 
ice  were  found  by  the  more  enthusiastic  and  diligent  searchers. 

Another  ever-to-be-remembered  trip,  was  by  Pelham's  Four  Corners  up  the 
ravine  of  Rip  Van  Winkle,  the  Sleepy  Hollow  of  the  Catskills,  past  the  spot  said 
to  be  the  scene,  as  depicted  by  Irving,  of  poor  old  Rip's  long  sleep — and  so  on, 
slowly,  by  the  mountain  and  forest  road,  to  the  White  Mountain  House.  On  this 
trip  we  encountered  a  heavy  rain  and  thunder  storm,  in  which  the  reverberations 
and  rolling  echoes  of  the  thunder  among  the  hills  were  inexpressibly  grand  ;  but 
we  were  thankful,  as  we  neared  the  summit,  to  see  the  clouds  roll  away,  to  catch 
glimpses  of  the  evening  sunlight  through  the  foliage,  and  to  hear  again  the  twitter- 
ing of  the  birds. 


And  now  the  time  has  arrived  for  bringing  these  pleasant  entertainments  to  a 
close. 

"  Harp  of  the  North,  farewell !  The  hills  grow  dark, 
On  purple  peaks  a  deeper  shade  descending." 

We  have  had  many  a  pleasant  ramble  over  mountain,  prairie,  valley,  and  wood- 
land,  and  have  gained,   I   hope,   not  only  pleasure,  but   information  and  mental 
stimulus  from  our   excursions.      Let  us  cherish  these  pleasant  memories,  that  they 
may  suggest  to  us  good  and  helpful  thoughts  in   the  path  of  life  yet  before  us. 
•And  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  better  express  my  feelings  or  yours  in  closing  this 


A  CATSKILL  BROOK. 


2OO  Picturesque   Tours  in  America. 

volume  of  our  adventures   than    by   quoting  from  one  of   Mrs.   Hemans's   sweet 
songs  : 

"  There's  beauty  all  around  our  paths,  if  but  our  watchful  eyes 
Can  trace  it  midst  familiar  things,  and  through  their  lowly  guise ; 
We  may  find  it  where  a  hedgerow  showers  its  blossoms  o'er  our  way, 

Or  a  cottage  window  sparkles  forth  in  the  last  red  light  of  day. 
*  %  *  *        .      * 

"  With  shadows  from  the  past  we  fill  the  happy  woodland  shades, 
And  a  mournful  memory  of  the  dead  is  with  us  in  the  glades  ; 
And  our  dream-like  fancies  lend  the  wind  an  echo's  plaintive  tone 

Of  voices,  and  melodies,  and  of  silvery  laughter  gone. 
***** 

"  Yet  should  this  be  ?  Too  much,  too  soon,  despondingly  we  yield  ! 
A  better  lesson  we  are  taught  by  the  lilies  of  the  field ! 
A  sweeter  by  the  birds  of  heaven — which  tell  us,  in  their  flight, 
Of  One  that  through  the  desert  air  forever  guides  them  right." 


